Drop in the Ocean
by mle199
Summary: Andee and Percy are both graduating and are looking forward to a summer at camp and to go to University in the fall. But when Andee gets an ominous message from her father, and Percy goes missing, Andee knows that nothing is going to go as planned. Percy/OC
1. One More Day

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rick Riordan, the Heroes of Olympus books, characters, series, or anything else you may recognize. The rest is mine.

**Author's Note: **HERE IT IS! So excited and I hope you all like it! So make sure you alert it, favorite it, and leave me a review! It's going to be very good with lots of drama and twists you will never see coming

**Chapter One  
One More Day  
**

As soon as I walked across my dorm room's threshold, I slammed the door behind me, leaning against it and sighing, running my hands through my blonde hair. I couldn't believe I had just been forced to spend two hours in detention for talking during dance class. Seriously, it was the stupidest thing ever. One of the girls in my class had asked me a question about how I learned my dances so fast when I was performing, and as soon as I opened my mouth, the teacher told me I had detention. And then, when I argued that I shouldn't get detention for talking about the subject we were in, she kept adding more time. I finally had the sense to shut up when I reached two hours.

Since I now lived in New York, I was also finishing my last year of high school in New York. I went to the Brooklyn Academy for the Gifted. Normally the students just came and went whenever, but for those of us who lived further away, they offered dormitories to stay in during the week. From my new home in Long Island, it took an hour and fifteen minutes to get to school, and that was when traffic was at its best. So the other boarders and I preferred just to go home during the weekends. The only caveat was that we had a curfew of 9 o'clock, and without special permission from out parents or guardians, we had to be back by that time.

I had been invited to this school because of my career. Since last summer, I have recorded an album which went platinum, five singles from that album that all sat at number one on the charts, a month-long tour of the United States and Canada, and to multiple smaller performances and autograph signings throughout the year. All that, on top of keeping up with my school and getting caught up on the curriculum. It was easier though because the majority of my classes were performing arts based, my tour counted as extra credit, which kept my grades up. I still had to do AP algebra, AP astronomy, AP history and AP English literature on the road, but I kept my grades up and that was all that mattered to Val.

Little Dimitrios, or Dimka as I called him, was nine months old. It seemed like he was born just yesterday, but just like his mother, he was smart. He could walk and he could say a few different words. It was amazing how fast he could learn.

I moved from the door and looked in my mirror, noting that my reflection didn't show any of the darkness I felt lurking inside my mind. Kronos was gone, back in Tartarus, and my mind was solid - no one could get in. But Kronos' presence had left a sort of dark residue inside my mind. I tried to keep it in at first and hope no one would notice, but that didn't work. So instead of taking it out in anger, I put it into my music. I was known for my darker songs and sexy costumes and dancing, which was also a reason some of the teachers at the school didn't like me. Oh well. I needed to get it out somehow and this way, I didn't do anything I might regret.

I pushed the darker thoughts to the back of my mind, instead looking at my uniform, adjusting it a little. I loved that I got to wear a uniform at this school - I've always wanted to wear one. And besides, I thought they looked cute. A navy blue pleated skirt pulled up a couple of inches now that it was after hours, a white oxford shirt under a navy cardigan with the school's logo, a bright red tie, white knee-high socks, and black high-heeled booties. Okay, those high heels weren't part of the uniform, but we could wear whatever we wanted. And I liked these shoes.

My sun necklace glittered around my neck, the crystal back to its pristine white color. I wrapped a hand around it to remind myself that Kronos was gone, and even if a little bit of that person I became still remained inside me, lurking in the shadows, I was back to me. I had a choice over all my decisions.

"You look _really_ sexy in that."

I whipped around, grabbing my dagger from the garter hidden under my skirt. I was just about to attack when I saw Percy sprawled out on my bed, waving Annabeth's Yankee cap at me.

I marched over to him and punched him in the shoulder, hard. "Ow! That's domestic abuse, you know," Percy mentioned.

"Maybe next time you'll think before you sneak up on me like that," I told him angrily. "Besides, you can't even get a bruise, so stop complaining."

"You're in a pleasant mood," Percy said, grinning a little.

"I just got back from two hours of detention for something I definitely should not have gotten detention for," I said.

Percy smiled a little. "I know that feeling all too well."

I glanced at him for a second. "Why are you here, anyways? I thought you were banned from campus."

"I am," Percy said, "but I don't really care. And if they can't see me, they can't escort me off campus, now can they?" Percy did this a lot, in case you didn't get that. He'd sneak in to see me in my dorm, even though I saw him most weeknights and every weekend so long as I wasn't working. He seemed to think I worked too much as it was. He was very inventive with his ways to get on campus, and after the principal saw him scaling the side of the school to see me, the principal made sure that campus security knew that he wasn't welcome here. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, but it was my last day of school today and tomorrow's grad. You could have just seen me then," I said as he pulled me onto his lap.

"I have been sneaking in here all year to see you and you never seem too upset," Percy said, smiling. Our faces were so close to each other's that it was hard for me to keep myself together. I could feel the heat coming off him as our breath mixed. It was so intoxicating that all I wanted was to close the distance between us, but I had to show some restraint. "I can't wait til camp. We'll have all the time in the world to do whatever we like with no distance between us."

"Do you really think Chiron will let us sleep in the same dorm after finding out _exactly_ what we were doing last summer?" I said quietly. "After my _brothers _found out?"

Percy grimaced. "We'll make it work. That's what love is all about, isn't it?"

I smiled and nodded before his lips were on mine. I pressed myself against him, our bodies fitting together perfectly, like two puzzle pieces. His hands moved up my thighs, lightly massaging them. I gasped a little into the kiss, which made him chuckle. I moved my hands out of his hair and to the hem of his shirt, pushing it up his chest. I felt the tightness of his muscles underneath as I ran my hands up his chest and pulled his shirt off.

"So that's the game we're playing?" Percy asked in a low, husky voice before moving his hands up, slipping them under my shirt for a moment. His hands were warm against my bare skin, and rough and callused like he had been practicing his swordplay earlier (which for him was extremely likely). It only took a few seconds for him to unbutton my shirt and slide it down my arms. He loosened my tie and slipped it over my head.

We shifted a little so that I was lying down and he hovered over top of me, a knee on either side of my thighs. He started kissing me along my jaw line, then my neck and moving down my stomach, kissing every inch of bare skin he could as he slid my skirt down over my hips. I used my feet to kick off my shoes and socks before reaching down and unbuttoning his jeans. His lips found the scar on my hip, kissing it lightly before he moved back to my lips, a new passion in our kissing.

I arched my body up to meet with his, twining my legs with his. His hands were restless, tracing light designs along my thighs, hips, stomach and arms. He was just about to slide off my underwear when there was a rapid knocking on the door, followed by my roommate, Phoibe Layton, a daughter of Demeter, poking her head in and saying, "Mrs. Forbes is on her way. Percy, you need to _leave_."

He sighed heavily, giving me a frustrated look. "One more day," I told him as I pulled on my pajama shorts and a tank top. "My grad ceremony is tomorrow afternoon, and then it's prom. We'll have our special night for prom, then you'll come with me to my interview, and we'll go straight to Camp Half-Blood from there."

"I can't wait," Percy said, pecking me on the lips before putting his shirt back on and moving to the window. "I'll see you tomorrow, beautiful." He kissed me again, more deeply this time, before putting jumping out the window and putting on Annabeth's hat. Normally I'd be worried because my dorm was on the third floor, but ever since he got Achilles' Curse, he's been literally invincible. It came in handy, especially when we were practicing fighting. Neither of us had to go easy on the other, which upped our fighting skills considerably. It was great.

Phoibe came back in, giving me an accusing look. "Again?"

"What can I say?" I asked as I fell back on my bed. "I'm a sex goddess."

"I'm sure Aphrodite would just _love_ to hear you saying that," Phoibe mentioned.

"There is actually no goddess of sex," I told her. "If you remember correctly, Aphrodite is the goddess of love, lust and beauty. Not sex. Eros is the god of sex, but he's not female. He's an asshole, though, so I wouldn't mind taking his title."

"Everything good in here, girls?" the RA asked, looking around the room suspiciously.

"Of course, Mrs. Forbes," Phoibe said, smiling charmingly at the room advisor.

Mrs. Forbes, the room advisor for our floor and the AP history teacher, nodded, her brown curls bouncing. "Make sure you get all of your packing done tonight."

"Yes, ma'am," I said, saluting her. She gave me a look before leaving the room, shutting the door behind her.

"So are you excited for a summer full of lustful adventures with your super hot, nearly invincible boyfriend?" Phoibe asked, flopping on her bed.

"We do not have 'lustful adventures'. We are in love - it's completely different," I said, giving her a look. She rolled her eyes. "And it's going to be a lot of sneaking around and avoiding getting caught by Chiron or my brothers. Because my brothers will not hesitate to hurt him, especially now with the whole curse thing. By the way, do you need a ride to camp?"

"Nah, my dad's going to drop me off."

"Okay, as long as you show up," I said. Phoibe and I had become close friends over the year, realizing right away that we were both demigods and that our room assignments weren't coincidence. I really liked her. She's had my back so many times, and I've had hers.


	2. Something Wicked This Way Comes

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rick Riordan, the Percy Jackson books, series, movies, characters, or the Heroes of Olympus books, series or characters, or anything else you may recognize. That was all horrible grammar. I apologize.

**Author's Note: **Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long, but after getting a few quite blunt reviews ;) I decided it was time to update with another chapter! Now unlike SOAF, I don't have everything written, so I need time as my life is busy with acting, singing, and writing my novels. So please don't hate me if it takes awhile! I'm trying, but it doesn't just happen!

**Chapter Two  
Something Wicked This Way Comes**

"Andee le Fay," the principal of my school called. I hurried up to the stage, my royal blue robes rippling behind me. The school had set up a stage on it's lawn as well as rows upon rows of chairs for all the graduate's families. Luckily there weren't many graduates because it was a private school for the gifted. There were probably about fifty of us in total, which was so different from my old school.

Technically, I still went to a performing arts school when I lived in Vancouver, but there were still _was _more people in my class. Vancouver was called Hollywood North, after all. And we always rented out a theatre or convention center to have our commencements. We never would have been able to do them on the lawn of our school. Americans were weird.

I met the principal halfway across the stage. She shook my hand before announcing to the audience, "Andee le Fay has been chosen to receive a full scholarship to take part in Julliard's premiere Triple Threat program. She will be one of the first and few to ever do this program, and we here at Brooklyn Academy for the Gifted could not be prouder. Congratulations, Andee le Fay!"

My mouth was practically sitting on the floor. I hadn't applied for any scholarships. The only thing I had applied for was to be part of the Master of Music in Voice at Julliard, but the rest of this was all very unexpected. I looked at my principal in shock and for once, she smiled at me, handing me my diploma and my scholarship.

I looked out to the audience, to meet eyes with one of my family members or friends, but they were all on their feet, cheering like mad. I finally broke out of my shock and held up my diploma and scholarship in triumph. Percy was laughing as he clapped and cheered for me. I was just about to walk off the stage when I saw my dad and my grandfather standing behind the sea of chairs, both of them wearing some very nice suits. It was really weird to see my dad in a suit. His fashion choices always leaned towards casual.

It was even weirder to see them here. I knew I got to see my father and my grandfather a lot more than any other demigod, but I hadn't expected to see them here. Especially when my dad had told me he would be seeing me off before I went to prom.

I sat amongst the other graduates, trying to make sense of their appearance right before the traditional hat toss. I threw my cap up in the air with everyone else's, all of us cheering at our new found freedom. Or at least, what everyone seemed to think was freedom. We were all going to be attending school again or working come September.

I laughed and hugged Phoibe, congratulating her before we went our separate ways to find our families. Val and Johnny were standing together, Val holding little Dimka in her arms and Johnny with a camera hanging around his neck. Percy was standing with them, and he only looked a little awkward, which was quite a huge leap. With the help of Johnny, I had gotten Val to accept the fact that Percy and I were together and that would probably never change.

"Andee!" Percy said, waving before he ran over to meet me halfway. He scooped me up into his arms, spinning me around a few times before our lips met in a passionate kiss. "Congratulations. That's a pretty big award you got there, little Miss Julliard."

"Did you know?" I asked.

He smiled a little. "John may have let something slip."

I hit his shoulder playfully. "You should've told me! I can't believe I didn't know! You're a horrible liar and I am - well, used to be - like, a human lie detector."

"Well, the fact that you never asked, 'Am I getting a surprise scholarship to a brand new program at Julliard?' helped a lot."

I laughed. "Well, you're one to talk. You graduated with honors _and_ a full ride scholarship to Stony Brook to study marine biology."

Percy smiled awkwardly, ruffling his hair. "Yeah, it's still pretty unbelievable. If you had told me a few years ago that I'd even get into college, I'd probably laugh in your face."

I smiled. "Well, it's happening. It's really happening." I leaned my forehead against his, so our noses were just barely touching. "We graduated and now we're going to university! Percy, this is just...this is amazing."

"I know," Percy whispered, kissing the tip of my nose. He took my hand as we separated and led me over to Val and Johnny. I ran up and hugged Val, kind of squishing Dimka in the middle. I liked to think of it as including him in the hug. After hugging Johnny too, Johnny wanted to get some photos. I called over some of my friends, including Phoibe, and got a bunch of photos together. I wanted to remember every minute of this day, and I had a feeling that Val wanted to too. After my friends left to re-join their parents, I got pictures of me with Percy (who looked quite dashing in his light blue dress shirt and dark gray dress pants), Dimka, Val and Johnny. This really was one of those real life scrapbook-able moments.

As people came up and congratulated me and Val, I got a little distracted. My dad and my grandpa were still standing at the very back of the group, and when I made eye contact with my dad, he made a subtle motion for me to follow them.

"Josie's parents want to get some photos of us together, so I'll be right back, okay?" I asked Percy. He nodded, taking my hand for a moment and pressing his lips to my knuckles before letting go. He was so sweet, I couldn't handle it sometimes.

I wove my way through all the families and students before finally reaching my dad and my grandfather. "I can't believe you guys are here!" I said excitedly, giving them both hugs and a kiss on the cheek.

"Congratulations on your scholarship," my dad said, smiling widely. "A true child of mine." Something was a little too fake about my dad's smile that told me that my graduation wasn't the real reason they were here.

"What's going on, daddy?" I asked quietly.

"There are...Andee, things are about to go downhill again," my dad said. "A lot worse than last time."

"Worse than last time?" I asked. "Kronos took over my body and because I technically worked for him for a short period of the war, I now have no control over my abilities and you guys won't give me that control. How can it get worse than last time?" I was practically yelling now. My grandfather grunted a little in response. When I looked over, he was putting pressure on his head. "Grandfather, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Avalon, just a little headache."

I froze. My grandfather had just called me by my mom's name. And he said he had a headache which gods, especially the king of gods, did not get. That would be like Poseidon getting sea sick. "Grandfather?" I repeated, much quieter this time.

"This is what I'm talking about," my dad said, switching to Ancient Greek so no one would overhear us. "It's happening to everyone. I'm one of the few who isn't splitting."

"Splitting?" I asked. Confusion was taking over everything now. "Dad, what does that even mean?"

He looked at me very seriously, and for the first time in a long time, I was scared. Truly scared of what was coming, even though I had no idea what it was. "You have a lot of hard decisions and fights ahead of you, Andee, and this time around, there won't be any gods to help you."

"But daddy -"

"It is not safe for you to be on the ground anymore," my dad said. "You have to keep off it. You can't let her get you."

"'Keep off the ground'? How is that even possible?" I asked. "And who is 'her'? Why is she coming after _me_?"

My dad looked around him, like someone who checked to see if someone was following him. "You have to promise me two things, Andee."

"Of course, dad," I said, getting more and more confused as the seconds passed.

"First of all, promise me you will not take those bracelets off. No matter what happens, you can't take them off. Do you promise?"

"Yes."

"Say it, Andromeda. Say the words," my dad said forcefully.

"I promise not to take my bracelets off, no matter what happens," I said. "Dad?"

"Now promise me that you will do whatever it takes to protect everyone."

"Dad, what is happening?"

"ANDROMEDA!" my dad shouted. I froze. This wasn't like my dad. He didn't shout. Never. My grandfather, yes, especially when he found out about my tattoos. But dad? Never. "Swear to me that you will protect everyone. You will do whatever it takes to stop this from happening and keep everyone safe. The mortals, your brothers...us."

I had no idea what I was supposed to do. This was insane. How was I supposed to protect everyone? Especially the gods? I couldn't even control myself if my bracelets weren't on.

"Swear on Gaea."

I looked at my grandfather. That was the most lucid thing he had said this entire time, which wasn't saying much. I had never even heard of someone swearing on Gaea before. Swearing on the Styx was the most secure way of swearing an oath that I knew of.

"Andromeda..."

"I swear on Gaea," I said, meeting my dad's eyes. "I swear, dad. I'll do whatever I can to keep everyone safe."

He nodded, a solemn look on his face.

"Andee?" I turned my head to see Percy jogging over to me, a worried look on his face. "Are you okay?"

I glanced back to where my father and grandfather had been, but they were gone, like I had expected. I plastered on a smile, hiding the confusion and fright I felt. "I'm fine, Perce. Just needed a bit of fresh air. Just a little overwhelmed by everything."

"I know the feeling," Percy said, wrapping his arms around me. "It feels like everything's happening so fast, doesn't it?"

I nodded, lightly touching his chest. I looked into his eyes, his beautiful green eyes that looked like sea glass. The faint spattering of freckles over his nose and cheekbones. The way his hair always looked like he'd just gotten out of bed (although it was a lot crazier when he really did get out of bed). The way his face felt in my hands. The look he got when he was worried about me. How he looked when he was really thinking about something. The sheer determination on his face when he was fighting. That cute smile he always wore where the one corner of his mouth turned up. He was beautiful.

"What?" Percy asked, looking at me worriedly. I smiled a little.

"I'm just committing this moment to memory. Committing you to memory," I said quietly, gently touching the planes of his face. "I love you so much, Percy Jackson. If you ever left me, I think I'd die."

"I would never leave you so you don't have to ever worry about that," Percy whispered back, pressing his lips to mine in a soft, gentle kiss. "We are forever."


	3. Prom!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rick Riordan, the Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus books, characters, series, movies, or anything else you may recognize.

**Author's Note: **Hey everyone! Sorry this is so late - I've had it written and been meaning to upload for awhile, but life keeps getting busy! So, I had an idea of making a blog about my writing, so you could see some of the background things about this story (like playlists, outfits, etc) and you could also learn about the novels I'm writing! So let me know if you'd be interested in that, and if you are, please let me know in a review! The more people that would like it, the more of a chance it will happen.

**Chapter Three  
Prom!  
**

I sat in front of the small, lighted mirror in front of my window and stared at my reflection for a moment, just taking everything in. I was going to my prom today. For so many years, I had wondered if I'd ever make it this long, and here I was. I glanced over at all of the pictures hanging on my wall and smiled. Every section of my wall was for specific people.

Closest to my bed was all my pictures of my family. The few pictures I had with my dad and my grandfather, a few pictures of my mother, a lot of pictures with Val, and more recently, Dimka and Johnny, more with my brothers, especially Lee and Will, Yaya and Popa, and of course, a ton of pictures with Annabeth from as far back as when we were five.

The next section on my wall, which was right behind my desk and beside my door, was for friends. That included pictures of Grover and some of the other satyrs at Camp, Chiron, some of the other demigods at Camp like Silena and Phoibe, and all the pictures with my friends from Vancouver, in all our different costumes, at different parties and events. I really missed them, but I knew that at least Delia and Mel would be coming to camp this year, now that there were cabins for them.

The last section was on the wall right across from my bed. All the photos formed a heart on the wall, and as you may have guessed, they were all of Percy. I was in a lot of the photos, but there were quite a few I had taken when he wasn't paying attention, that always made me smile. I knew he had a few photos like that of me, too. Included in the heart of pictures, was photos from Percy's grad - or prom, as they call it. Since it was Percy's prom, I let him choose the dress, and he had picked a short cerulean blue dress with a sequin detailing all on the bust, and a ribbon empire waist. There were quite a few candid photos of us - which were my favorite - just talking, kissing, and holding hands. Just looking at the photos made my heart flutter with excitement for tonight.

I heard the roar of an engine as Paul's blue prius pulled into our driveway. I quickly put on a pair of diamond studs before standing up and looking at my reflection. My hair splashed across my shoulders in curls, my make-up was a little darker than normally, which made my green eyes really stand out, and my necklace sat gleaming on my collarbones. My dress was absolutely beautiful. It had a sweetheart neckline, a sequin-covered bodice, and the skirt was made of gold tulle with gold sequin accents scattered throughout. The light caught one of the jewels on my bracelets and I sighed a little. They reminded me of shackles.

I know last August I calmed everyone down and told them that it was okay, that I was just glad to have my life. And I was, I really was. I had just expected to be out of them a lot sooner, but with how my year went, I hadn't had any time to work on my control. So now, these bangles kept me prisoner until I could learn to control everything. I wasn't even sure how to access a lot of my abilities anymore. It was like the bracelets turned off a certain part of my brain, and I couldn't remember how to access it. My lie-detecting abilities were pretty much gone now. I could really only tell when someone was obviously lying. I definitely couldn't fly (I'm still not sure how that happened before), my fire abilities worked more like a common lighter, and my storm abilities, once again, were slim to none.

I could still sing, act, dance and all of that. Those were more talents than powers or abilities. All of my physical abilities like archery, running, and fighting were still fantastic, because once again, those weren't really things that needed mental control.

I turned away from the mirror, forcing the thoughts of my punishment to the back of my mind. This was supposed to be a happy day, and I wasn't going to let anything ruin it.

When I walked out the front door and Percy's eyes found me, the smile on his face was the most adorable thing. His whole face lit up like he was the one who had the god of the sun as his father. My cheeks grew warm as he jogged over to me, sweeping me into a romantic kiss. "You look...well, there are no words for how you look. None of the words I can think of would do you any justice."

I laughed a little, squeezing him tight. When I pulled away and looked at him, my heart burst with affection. He looked so handsome in his pure black tuxedo, black dress shirt and a gold tie. "You look pretty cute yourself," I said cheekily, pecking him on the lips.

"I have something for you," Percy said, holding out a white orchid corsage decorated with gold ribbon. She slid it onto my wrist and I couldn't stop smiling. I was still so amazed that I was here and all this was really happening.

Val and Johnny must have taken a billion pictures of Percy and I together in all sorts of cute and ridiculous poses. Percy took over the camera and took pictures of me with Johnny, Val and Dimka and even with Sally and Paul. They were like my second parents, now. Just as Johnny was about to get even more pictures of Percy and me, cherry red convertible Maserati Spyder pulled up to the curb. My dad _loved_ that car. So did Percy. My dad, Lee, and Will stepped out of the car, all in pale gold dress shirts, and black dress pants.

"You made it!" I practically screamed, running over to hug each of my brothers and then my dad. I knew my brothers would come to see me off, but after yesterday's weird conversation, I wasn't too sure my dad would keep his promise to come.

"Of course I did - I made a promise, didn't I?" my dad asked, looking at me seriously. Okay, that question definitely had a double meaning.

"Yes, you did," I said quietly.

He kissed my forehead. "You look absolutely stunning. Percy is a lucky man."

"Yes, I am, Lord Apollo," Percy said, coming over and giving my hand a little squeeze. I looked at Percy and smiled, leaning into him.

"Well," my dad interrupted, "Valkyrie, would you mind getting a few pictures of me with my daughter and sons?"

Val nodded, handing off Dimka to Johnny and getting me to pose with my brothers first, then my father, then all three of them. Lee kept telling me how beautiful I looked and how he remembered me when I was six years old with little blonde pigtails. Will was just in shock.

The limo pulled up so with some final hugs and goodbyes, Percy and I slid inside, the first of our group to be picked up. Percy leaned back against the seats, looking over at me.

"What?" I asked, mimicking his position.

"I really am lucky to have you," Percy said softly. "Guys like me don't get girls like you very often."

"Contrary to popular belief, nice guys don't finish last," I told him. "At least, if you're talking to any girl with common sense."

"Or a crazy girl," Percy suggested.

I hit him jokingly. "I'm not crazy," I said. "I love every single thing about you. Everything."

I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his and kissed him gently. "I love you too, Andee. More than anything."

I smiled and we kept kissing until the limo parked outside one of my friend's houses. We continued like picked up everyone, getting pictures with everyone at each stop before finally arriving at the hotel.

When we arrived, most of my graduating class was already there, getting ready for the class photo. Once that was done, everyone headed into the ballroom and I was blown away. The ballroom itself was huge with gorgeous marble tiles all along the floor and a huge, crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. From the chandelier, pieces of royal blue and gold fabric were hung and pinned to the corners of the room, making the ceiling look almost like the ceiling of a circus tent, but much classier. Every post was wrapped in blue and gold balloons, and the tables all had beautiful centerpieces with our names on it. The tables were all in white tablecloths, and the chairs were draped with white fabric and a royal blue bow.

I was speechless. This was exactly what I'd always hoped for. Percy chuckled beside me, kissing me on the cheek before leading me to our table. We sat down and listened to the different speeches made by the faculty. Percy had one hand under the table, massaging my thigh. Waiters came around with dinner and then dessert, and after everyone was finished eating, we all got up and made our way over to the dance floor.

The lights dimmed and the music started pumping. I could never resist dancing. If I didn't already know that my fatal flaw was control, I would say it was dancing. Percy pressed his chest to my back, and we danced very sensually together, in the middle of the crowded dance floor. I turned around to face him, and he grinned at me, running his hands down my side to hold my hips. I shivered a little. "I have to go do something, I'll be right back, okay?"

I nodded, moving back a little to join the group of my single friends dancing. The song changed to a ballad version of "Let Me Love You" by Neyo. Percy weaved through the crowd of my slow-dancing classmates and made his way over to me. He immediately brought me as close to him as possible, his hands on the small of my back. I wrapped my arms around his neck, unable to help the smile on my face. "This is one of my favorite songs."

Percy leaned his head so our foreheads touched. "I know - that's why I asked the DJ to play it." I gave him a light kiss. "I have something for you."

"Oh?" I asked. He grinned and reached into his jacket, pulling out a small blue box. He opened it and I gasped when I saw the white gold ring. It featured an infinity sign with a blue topaz and peridot on one side, and then a peridot and a diamond on the other side. "Percy..." I said, on the verge of tears.

"Your hand?" Percy asked and I held it to him as he slipped it on my ring finger, the same place an engagement ring and a wedding ring would go. "I picked out this promise ring in particular because of the infinity symbol, to show that you and me are forever. And with this ring, I promise to always be there for you. To always tell you the truth, even if it might hurt one of us. I promise to protect you from everyone and everything. I promise to be your best friend. I promise you that as soon as we are done with school, we are going to get married."

I looked into his eyes, trying to stop myself from crying even though I couldn't contain my happiness. "I love you so much, Perseus Jackson."

"I love you too, Andromeda le Fay," Percy said, and for once, I didn't flinch at the use of my full name. It sounded wonderful from Percy's mouth.

I reached up and kissed him full on the mouth. He instantly responded, snaking his arms around me and pulling me even closer to him. I ran my hands along the muscles in his chest before moving them into the hair at the nape of his neck.

It didn't take us long to leave the ballroom and get upstairs to the room we had booked beforehand. In a flurry of clothes, kissing and touching, we made it through the door, hastily closing it and locking it behind us. Percy was having a heck of a time, undoing all the little hooks and the corset back of my dress. I laughed every time he let out a growl of frustration. He finally managed to loosen the dress and I shimmied out of it, leaving me in just my bra and panties. I immediately threw off Percy's jacket, and while he loosened his tie and threw it over my head, I unbuttoned his shirt.

His lips found my neck and he trailed kisses down my neck and onto my collarbone. I jumped up, wrapping my legs around him, letting him carry me over to the bed. He let me fall back onto it, quickly crawling on top, a knee on either side of my legs, and resumed kissing every inch of skin he could reach.

Later that night, we lay in bed, completely entwined with each other. I had my hand out, looking at the ring in complete bliss. "Say it again, Percy." I looked over and his sea-green eyes were filled with amusement.

"You heard me the first time," Percy said, wrapping a hand in my hair and twirling it around his fingers.

"Come on, Perce, please?" I asked, putting a hand on his chest. I could feel his quickening heartbeat under my palm. I guess he was excited about the idea too.

"We're going to get married," Percy whispered and I kissed him again before cuddling into him, getting ready to finally go to sleep. "You and I are going to be married in a few years."

I fell asleep smiling, Percy's arms holding me close.


	4. Disappear

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rick Riordan, the Heroes of Olympus books, series, and characters.

**Author's Note:** Hey everyone! Getting quite a few reviews as of late, which is always good motivation! So to answer one of my reviewers questions, this story is going to follow ALL of the books in the Heroes of Olympus series, but from Andee's point of view. Exciting, huh? So thank you all for your support and reviews and keep them coming! Also, if you would like a blog/website for my writing, where you can be kept up to date on the progress of everything, including my original novels, and different things like who I imagine as each characters and playlists for each story, please let me know if you're interested! Now, read, review, favorite, and alert! (Also, the song Andee is singing in mind is "I Wanna Go", but obviously, in the real world, it belongs to Britney Spears).

**Chapter Four**  
**Disappear**

_Ring, ring. Ring, ring._

"Ugh," I moaned, reaching over and grabbing the phone from the bedside table.

"Hi, this is Kayla from the front desk. I'm calling for your nine o'clock wake-up call," the voice on the other end said.

I forgot that I'd had asked for that when I'd booked the room. I had an interview today with an entertainment news show. I had to be there by eleven, which only gave me time to do the very basics to get ready and get to the studio. "Thanks, I'm getting up now."

I hung up the phone and turned over to tell Percy it was time to get up, but no one was there. That was strange, seeing as Percy was not one to get up early, especially without some additional help. "Percy?" I called, sitting up and wrapping myself in the blanket from the bed. "Perce, are you already up?"

No one answered. I got up from the bed and grabbed my traveling clothes (the clothes I wore just to get me to set) and headed to the bathroom. He wasn't in there either. I looked at my reflection for a moment, sighing. This wasn't like Percy at all. He never left before I did and he had always been someone who would leave a note if something came up. Or a text on my phone. Something to let me know where he was.

I pushed back all of those thoughts before brushing my teeth, showering, and then drying my hair. I pulled on my travelling clothes and quickly gathered up all the discarded clothes and undergarments into my suitcase. Percy's clothes were gone too. At least that meant he was most likely safe, wherever he had gone.

I could see a car waiting for me at the curb when I stepped into the lobby. I jogged a little and started to cut across the grass when something tugged on my foot. I tried to just pull it and keep going, but whatever it was had a tight hold on me. I looked down to see my foot was sinking into the grass, twisting my ankle at an unnatural angle as it did so.

"What the -" I pulled at my foot, trying to free it but nothing was working.

_It is not safe for you to be on the ground anymore. You have to keep off it. You can't let her get you._

My body tingled all over, and not in the good way. "Crap, crap, crap," I muttered, looking around to make sure no one had noticed what was happening. I blasted a ball of fire at the ground, scorching the earth and it was just enough to pull my foot free. My ankle was definitely broken. I limped over to the cement path and continued to the car, loading my suitcase into the trunk and slipping into the back seat.

"Are you alright, miss?" the driver asked, looking at me in concern. The driver was a son of Hermes. I only allowed my agent (also a half-blood) to hire other half-bloods, just in case something weird happened.

"Yeah, fine. The ground is just really soft," I lied. "I think I might have broken my ankle."

"Take your time and heal up, traffic will be nuts anyways," the driver said and I nodded as he put the key in the ignition and started. My mind was racing. Something was happening, and like my dad had told me, I wasn't safe. No one was safe, if this was as bad as my dad was making it out to be.

I felt around in my foot, immediately able to identify where the break was. It was a clean break, too. I snapped it back into place, my foot growing warm as my natural healing powers took over. After a few minutes, I moved my ankle around and found it was back to the same state it had been just minutes before I had stepped on the gas.

"Thomas?" I asked suddenly. "Did you by any chance see Percy come out of the hotel some time this morning?"

"No, I only arrived a few minutes ago. Why?" he asked.

"No reason," I lied again. I hated lying to people, but I didn't want to start a panic. I needed to figure out what was going on before I did anything.

I put in some headphones and leaned back into the leather seat of the car, forcing myself to relax and rehearse some different interview questions in my head. It never hurt to be prepared.

We arrived at the set in just under an hour, and I was immediately whisked inside, with the promise that the driver would drop off my grad dress at my house. The show's staff led me to a dressing room with my name on it, and hair and make-up immediately got to work straightening my hair and putting on my signature smoky make-up. I glanced over at the clothes rack, filled with outfits my manager had brought over from my house. I would be performing on the show as well, so I needed to be put in performance wear rather than interview wear.

When the hair and make-up artists finished, I looked through the clothes and finally chose a tight, shiny gold dress that hugged every curve of my body, and a black leather moto jacket. I also pulled on some gold and black pumps. I looked in the full-length mirror one more time before the producer told me it was time to go.

"And now," the host, Felicity Paris, announced, "the woman you have all been waiting for. Give up for Andee le Fay and her new hit single!"

I was handed a sparkly gold microphone moments before the music started and I walked onto the stage. The audience went wild as soon as they saw me. My dancers came out and started dancing at the same time I started singing and dancing. I had been really excited to show Percy this song. With the outfit, choreography and music, it was quite a sensual song and I wanted to see his face when he saw it performed.

The audience was going crazy, especially any time I did a body roll, dropped to the ground, or did any thing else that was sexy. When the music ended, I struck a dramatic pose. Everyone leapt from their seats, giving me a standing ovation. I bowed a little, smiling before moving over to the seating area where Felicity was. I sat in the chair across from her, putting on my best publicity smile.

"That was quite a performance, Andee!" Felicity said, clapping a little.

"Thank you, Felicity," I said in the most charming voice I could muster.

"You are an incredible performer. I've heard that not one of your performances has been lip-synched, is that true?" Felicity asked.

"It is," I answered. "I don't believe in lip-synching, no matter how much choreo you have. I mean, if they can do it on Broadway, shouldn't every other performer be able to do the same?"

Felicity nodded emphatically. "You also have quite the support system, don't you?"

"I do. My godmother, her husband, my godson, my dads, my brothers and my boyfriend are godsends. They are so amazing and know exactly what to do when I've had a good or even a rough day. I couldn't be more blessed," I said.

"That sounds like quite a complicated family history. Do you mind telling us a little about it?" Felicity asked. This question always came up, and the answer was so rehearsed by now, that I had almost started to believe it myself.

"My mother died giving birth to me, and my dad, with his line of work, was unable to take care of me. So I was raised by my mother's best friend and my godmother, Valkyrie. She practically is my mother by now. I see my father more now than ever, and it's really great."

"Do you not hold a grudge against him for leaving you?" Felicity asked.

"No," I said, shocked that anyone would ask that question. "He did what was the best for me, and ultimately, it led to us having a much better relationship than we would have if he had raised me himself. My godmother is the reason for everything I have and am today, and I couldn't be more grateful to her for taking me in."

Felicity nodded. "You also happened to mention a boyfriend. Would you like to tell us about him?"

I gave her that 'I-shouldn't-be-telling-you-this' smile. "I'm not going to tell you much other than he is the kindest, caring, most supportive, strong and loving man I could have ever met. He actually gave me the promise ring I'm wearing," I said, looking at the ring and feeling my heart flutter. The audience awed.

"So it's definitely love?" Felicity asked.

"It was love at first sight. He is my soulmate in every sense of the word," I said softly, thinking about him. Everyone awed again. Felicity cut to a commercial and I took this time to get my manager to bring over my phone. I speed-dialed Sally's number. The phone rang twice before she picked up.

"Andee! Shouldn't you be at your interview right now?" Sally asked.

"I am, we're on a commercial break," I told her. "I was just wondering if you'd heard from Percy this morning."

"He's with you, isn't he?"

"When I woke up this morning, he was gone. No note or anything," I said. I didn't want to worry her, but I also knew that if Sally didn't know where her son was, then no one else would.

"Maybe he went to camp early. Chiron has called him to camp early a few times in the past," Sally said, but I could hear the worry in her voice. We both knew that was unlikely. Percy would have told _someone_ where he was going.

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about," I reassured her. "I'll get him to call you once I get to camp."

"Thank you, Andee," she said gratefully before hanging up. I handed the phone back to my manager as the show started up again. I answered the questions as best as I could, trying to keep my facade up. As soon as the interview ended, I thanked Felicity for having me, and signed some autographs for a few of the people who were allowed to come backstage. I took a few pictures with them too, but my manager and security escorted me out to the car.

I sat in the back of the car in silence, trying to convince myself that Percy was safe and at camp. As soon as we pulled up to my house, I leapt up and burst through the door.

All my stuff was packed in my bag upstairs. I ran up, grabbed my bag and looked for any sign of Percy.

Nothing.

I ran down to the kitchen where Val and Johnny were eating lunch and feeding Dimka. "Val, Johnny, by any chance did Percy stop by here?"

Val shook her head. "I thought he was with you."

"Me too," I muttered. "I'm gonna head off to camp, I'll see you guys at the end of summer."

Val and Johnny each hugged me, saying goodbye. I hugged Dimka and kissed the top of his little dark-haired head before going into the garage and starting my car. It was about an hour's drive from my house to camp, so I wanted to get there as soon as possible.

I hopped in my car and pulled out of the driveway, speeding down the road. Traffic was horrible, so the drive took me two hours, during all of which I was completely freaking out. I pulled into the parking area Annabeth had designed for the older demigods with vehicles, and parked it.

I ran from the car into the Big House where Chiron sat alone at the table he and Dionysus usually played pinnacle at. "Chiron, Percy is missing and we need to send search parties to go look for him. Something bad is happening and -"

"Andee, calm down and tell me why you think Percy is missing," Chiron said slowly, but he looked scared too.

So I told him about how grad was yesterday, that Percy and I spent the night together, with the plan for him to come to my interview and then come to camp together, and then how he'd disappeared in the morning without a trace. "Chiron, he gave me a promise ring last night. He wouldn't just leave."


	5. Everyone Has a Vision, Except For Me

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rick Riordan, the Heroes of Olympus series, books, characters, or anything else you may recognize.

**Author's Note****: **I feel like my author's notes are usually apologizing for updating, but I really am sorry! I've been really busy with writing one of my novels and editing the other. I'm literally editing a chapter a day, so it takes quite a bit of time and concentration. I have been trying to get an update for this story, but it's hard when I've got so much more things for writing on my mind. But I hope you all like this chapter, and don't forget to review, favorite, and alert the story and me!

**Chapter Five  
****Everyone Has a Vision...Except For Me**

Sign-in duty. SIGN-IN DUTY.

This was not okay. Not okay at all. Why should I be worried about signing in new and returning campers when Percy was missing? Chiron had decided it would be best to wait for a few days, to see if he showed up. He gave me a list of reasons why he could have disappeared, most involving monster attacks or even surprises for me.

But I didn't agree with him. Somewhere deep inside my heart, I knew that Percy had been taken and we needed to do something.

So Chiron said that as a senior counselor, I needed to set an example for the other campers, which meant sign-in duty. The other senior counselors were working tours, taking groups of five, preferably from the same cabin, and showing them around the camp. And I was stuck here, sitting at a table, filling out forms for every new kid and finding all the previous campers on a huge ass list and checking off their name.

"Name?"

"Lou Ellen Brooks." I'd never seen the girl before. She was probably only thirteen or fourteen with dark hair and pale green eyes that were kind of hypnotizing.

"Alright," I said, shaking my head a little as I pulled out a new form. "Have you been claimed?"

She nodded. "My mother is Hecate."

"Ah," I said. "That explains the eyes." Hecate was the goddess of magic, and I'd met her on a few occasions. She looked like an older version of the girl in front of me, but the whole eye-thing was because she liked to captivate people. She did it quite well.

I asked Lou Ellen some more questions, like where she currently lived, what school she went to, if she planned on staying at camp year-round or just for the summers, and other basic information like that. I was just finishing up Lou Ellen's paperwork when I heard someone running towards me.

"Excuse me, _excuse me_!" Annabeth shouted, pushing people out of her way. "People, _move_!"

"Annie?" I asked, whipping around. Her eyes were bright with excitement. She'd found something. "Phoibe, take care of registration for me, will you?"

She nodded and wished me luck as she took my place, starting to point people in different directions.

"We have to get to Chiron," Annabeth said. "_Now_."

I nodded and followed her to the Big House, where Chiron seemed to be spending most of his time lately. He turned when we entered the room, rearranging the blanket on his Mist-concealed legs.

"I had a dream," Annabeth announced. I looked at her strangely. I hadn't had any demigod dreams since last summer, so how was she getting any? Let's face it - I was the most likely to get them, my dad being Apollo and all. "The dream told me that I needed to go to the Grand Canyon skywalk and look for a guy with one shoe. He'll lead us to Percy."

To anyone else it would sound crazy, but I was desperate. "Then what are we waiting for?" I asked. "Let's go."

I started out the door but Chiron rolled over and latched onto my wrist, holding me back. "Andee, I cannot let you go on this quest. You are too emotionally invested in this."

"Too emotionally invested, my ass," I said. It was because of last summer. No one trusts me to do anything anymore, like I might explode any second. I wouldn't. Chiron gave me a stern look. "What, and Annabeth isn't? She's known him a lot longer than I have. This is the love of my life we're talking about. I deserve to go look for him!"

"This is why you can't come, Dee," Annabeth said soothingly. "You're too emotional about it and without knowing what level your abilities are at, it's dangerous for you."

I glared at her. I knew she was try to do what was best for me while trying to find Percy, but the best thing for me right now was to have Percy. If I couldn't have him, I wanted to be one of the people trying to find him. I had to be.

"You will stay here, Andromeda, and continue with your duties as senior counselor of the Zeus cabin. That means registration, tours, cabin inspections, hand-to-hand combat instruction and leading the campfire sing-alongs," Chiron said.

"Don't you _dare_ use that name and don't treat me like a child," I spat at Chiron, storming past him and out of the Big House.

How dare he? He had no right to tell me what I could and couldn't do! Percy was one of the only people in this world who still believed in me. He trusted me and loved me as I was. And now that he was gone, I wasn't even allowed to go look for him.

I screamed in frustration, wanting to beat the crap out of something. I looked around and saw that I had made it all the way to the training arena. Perfect.

I went into the weapons supply closet and pulled out a few of the practice dummies. I started fighting as hard as I could, using all sorts of combinations of punches, kicks, and full body blows. Some time in the middle of this, I broke down and started crying. I fell in a heap on the ground and just cried. Cried because everyone seemed to be against me. Cried because something horrible was happening and my say wasn't being taken into account. Cried because I wasn't allowed to go try and find my boyfriend. Cried because I might never see Percy again.

"Andee?" Lee asked, cautiously approaching me.

I didn't bother to turn to look at him. "I just want to find him. That's all I want."

Lee sat on the ground with me, hugging me tightly and wiping my tears. "I know, Dee, but you have to trust that Chiron knows what he's doing. We can't have you risking your life when we don't even know what your powers are like. That would be dumb. We don't want Percy to come back to find you dead."

"I can't die, stupid," I said, hitting him on the shoulder.

"Just let Annabeth find him. Then you'll be back together and you'll have nothing to worry about anymore," Lee said.

"Yes, I will. No one trusts me. No one wants me to do anything. I went from coming to camp and being this bad-ass super-woman to being this helpless child who can do nothing," I said frustratedly. "If anything, I'm even more powerful than before."

"Did you ever stop to think that's why Chiron doesn't want you going out on quests yet?" Lee asked. "A lot of the people at this camp experienced just how powerful you are firsthand last summer during the Battle, whether you were on Kronos' side or ours. Your power is undeniable, and that scares some people."

_Maybe that wouldn't be a problem if the gods had given you the control you needed_. I didn't say it out loud because as far as everyone else was concerned, I was okay with the punishment I was given. I wasn't. I was happy that the gift, though, because I got to live my life the way I chose to live it.

Lee gave me another hug. "Come on, let's get you back to registration."

I sat at the registration table shuffling through the papers in boredom. Most of the campers had already signed in and were on their tours or being shown to their cabin. Chiron decided that because so many more demigods were coming to camp this year, the first few days should act as a sort of orientation, and tomorrow we'd start the lessons with some of the senior counselors (including myself) teaching a few of the subjects.

I leaned back in my chair and tried to see into Annabeth's mind, to see whatever she was seeing on the quest, but she blocked me. Seriously, my best friend in the world, one of the only people who understood how much this was hurting me, blocked me from her mind. Obviously something important was happening if she wouldn't let me see.

Chiron interrupted my attempts to break through the barriers in Annabeth's mind and said, "Andee, it's time to come inside." I nodded, gathering up all the registration forms and sat in the meeting room/games room/war council headquarters as Chiron walked past me to stand on the porch. After a few minutes, I heard a huge splash and knew that Annabeth had returned, and that Will would kill her for wrecking the chariot.

I ran out to the porch, watching what was happening at the canoe lake. The nymphs threw the chariot out of the lake, and Will immediately went to its aid. Annabeth and Butch were the first people out of the lake, Annabeth immediately looking to the Big House.

_I'm sorry, Andee. He wasn't there_.

My heart sank. I continued to watch and saw three more people come out of the lake after Annabeth and Butch.

One was a girl that was definitely First Nations, with tan skin, choppy, unevenly cut hair with a few braids throughout, and blue eyes that were shifting to green as she looked around in confusion. Definitely a daughter of Aphrodite if I've ever seen one.

The second a guy who looked to be Spanish with tan skin, curly black hair, dark brown - almost black - eyes, and pointy ears that reminded me of an elf. He had a super babyish face and was average in height - not nearly as tall as Percy, but not nearly as short as me. I couldn't quite tell who his godly parent was.

The third and last person to walk out of the lake made my jaw drop. He was taller than Percy by at least an inch and his features looked like they had been carved into stone, like a Greek statue or something. He had light blonde hair cut in a military sort of style, and electric blue eyes. He wore a bright, orchid purple shirt that I thought would look a lot better on me than the camp's orange ones. There was no mistaking who he was.

"How is that even possible?" I asked Chiron quietly.

"I don't know," Chiron said. "Please go inside."

I nodded, but my mind was racing. He shouldn't be here. He shouldn't even be _alive_.

I sat stiffly at the table, my hands folded in front of me. To stop myself from further over thinking it, I poured myself a glass of lemonade from the pitcher on the table and gulped it down.

It was a few minutes before I heard the squeak of the wheels on Chiron's wheelchair coming inside, and he was followed by the blonde boy. Seymour, the leopard head mounted on the wall, snarled at the boy when he walked inside.

"Shush, Seymour," I snapped at him, grabbing a couple of Snausages from the bag on the table and threw them into his mouth with perfect aim.

"Good aim," the boy commented, completely unfazed by the fact that the leopard on the wall moved.

"Kind of my thing," I said as the boy sat down at the table, directly across from Chiron but beside me.

"I'm Jason," he introduced, holding his hand out. I stared at his hand before looking at Chiron. I _knew_ him. I'd never met him in person before, but I _knew _him. Jason gave me a strange look before Chiron started to speak. "Jason, do you mind telling us what exactly brought you here?"

Jason started into his story, explaining that he woke up on a bus with no clue as to who he was other than his name. Then he explained his trip to the Grand Canyon, the wind spirits attacking, and then Annabeth and Butch finding him, mentioning that they had to find someone with one shoe. I glanced down and saw that he was definitely only wearing one shoe.

I also noticed the strange markings on his arm: SPQR, an eagle, and twelve straight lines. There had to some sort of meaning behind them. The eagle obviously symbolized his godly parent - Zeus, in this case, but I didn't know what the rest meant and that bothered me as much as it would have bothered a child of Athena.

"Hmm," Chiron said. "And do you have any questions for me?"

"Why did you say I should be dead?" Jason asked.

Chiron was looking at Jason as if he expected him to spontaneously combust. "My boy, do you know what the color of your shirt and your tattoo means? Do you remember _anything_?"

Jason shook his head, and Chiron started questioning him on what he knew about the gods, which was more than most new demigods did, including that they move from country to country as the center of power moves, like from Ancient Greece to Rome.

Chiron started speaking in a different language, and Jason replied with ease. It wasn't one of the four I knew fluently - English, French, Ancient Greek, and modern Greek - but I knew enough to know they were speaking in Latin. I only knew the few phrases most demigods knew.

"You are not like any pupil I've ever taught before," Chiron said to Jason. "It breaks my heart every time one of my former students dies, and your presence could mean disaster. I'd hoped that after Percy's success -"

"Percy Jackson, you mean. The missing camper."

"My boyfriend," I added. Jason gave me another odd look.

"After the Titan War, I had been hoping for some peace," Chiron said, "but it seems that the last chapter is approaching once again."

Apparently he'd been getting some of the signs I had too, not that I'd discussed them with him. I was still upset that he didn't let me go on the quest to find Percy.

All of a sudden, Jason was standing with his sword out and pointed at Seymour, going off about some lady in the mist saying he needed to free him before four days were up.

"Something's happened!" Annabeth said, panting as she and Rachel brought in the unconscious First Nations girl.

Jason rushed over to her. "What's wrong with Piper?"

"She was in Hera's cabin," Annabeth gasped. "Vision. Bad."

Oh, so everyone was now getting visions _except_ for me. Just _great_.

**A/N: **Maybe a note here will get your attention! Been very seriously considering putting up a blog with many different things, one of them being my writing so you can stay up-to-date on what I'm doing with my novels AND my fanfics. I'll put some special things about the characters and all that up. So let me know if you'd all be interested in that, because I think it might happen. Also, don't forget to leave a review!


	6. Time for a Quest

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rick Riordan, the Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus books, series, movies, characters, or anything else you may recognize.

**Author's Note: **Hey everyone! Decided to do a quick update since I'm lacking inspiration for my novels, but have plenty for this story! So I'm trying to write ahead as much as I can so I can do more regular updates, but as of right now, I don't have a specific update schedule. But I hope you like the chapter, and don't forget to leave a review, favorite, and alert!

**Chapter Six  
Time for a Quest**

Jason, Annabeth and Rachel brought Piper over to the couch and of course _I _was expected to heal her. I could control my abilities enough to heal someone when the need arose, but they weren't stable enough to go look for my boyfriend. I was _so_ tempted to argue and make my point, but I didn't want to seem like a brat. _I _should be the one having the prophecies, not Annabeth, and not this Piper girl. I could deal with Rachel, but only because my father had chosen her.

I leaned over Piper's unconscious body, putting a hand over her forehead. I barely had to concentrate on sucking out the bad energy and the pain. When I felt that tiny little click that told me the healing was done, I removed my hand and said, "Her mind is still in a fragile state, but she should wake up soon."

"How do you know?" Jason asked protectively.

"Because this used to happen to me all the time - the only difference is that unlike Piper, I had to heal myself, which could take a few hours or a few weeks," I explained.

"Andee is the best healer you'll ever meet besides her father," Annabeth said. "Piper will be fine, if not better than before."

"Rachel, what happened?" Chiron asked.

Rachel took a deep breath before explaining that she had a vision as soon as she got to camp about Hera's cabin, and while she was there, Annabeth and Piper came in and talked for a bit. Rachel's memory stopped there, so Annabeth informed us that she started talking in a strange voice.

"Someone was speaking through you," I said. You always knew when it was the spirit of Delphi. It was like, a power growing inside you. To even acknowledge that it was a 'strange voice' meant that it had to be someone else.

"It was really different. The voice sounded like an older woman. She grabbed Piper's shoulders and -"

"Told her to free her from her prison?" Jason suggested.

Annabeth stared at him suspiciously. "How do you know that?"

Chiron and I both made the three-fingered gesture over our hearts, a ward against evil. I wasn't sure I believed that a hand gesture could ward off evil, but it was habit. "Jason, please tell Annabeth and Rachel what you told Andee and I."

Jason started his story again as I tried to put the pieces together. I knew that all of this was leading up to the bigger picture, which would explain what was going on, but I only had a few of the pieces. It was infuriating.

I knew this, though. A quest would be given to Jason and Piper. They had both seen the lady so they'd get the quest. They'd need at least one more person to go with them. Now it was just a matter of waiting to see what would happen next.

"It's not Kronos again, is it?" Annabeth asked. Rachel, Chiron and Annabeth immediately looked at me. Jason just looked confused.

"No," I said quietly, touching my soul necklace. "It's not him. He's not a threat anymore. But -"

"Piper needs rest," Chiron interrupted. "We'll discuss this later."

I tried to catch his eye but he purposefully avoided eye contact with all of us. He knew that I knew things he didn't want me sharing with the rest of the group yet. Jason was about to argue when Rachel said, "Oh. The voice was Hera, wasn't it? Her cabin, her voice she showed herself to Jason at the exact same moment."

Oh Zeus, if Hera was involved in what was happening, I was doomed. She _hated_ me. Then again, maybe she hated Jason more...

"It makes sense," Jason said. "She was wearing this goatskin cloak, which is a symbol of Juno."

"I've never heard that," Annabeth said.

"It is true of Juno," Chiron said. "Juno is Hera's Roman and more war-like aspect. The goatskin cloak was a symbol of a Roman soldier."

Roman? What was with all these Roman references? Roman gods didn't exist, just the Greek ones. Why would Roman gods exist when they just stole all their ideas from the Ancient Greeks?

"So Hera's imprisoned," Annabeth said. "Good thing or bad thing?"

"Good thing," I said at the same time Chiron said, "Bad thing."

He gave me a stern look. "She is still one of the Olympians, and in many ways, she is the glue that holds the Olympian family together. If she is truly imprisoned, this could shake the foundations of the entire world. And if Hera asked Jason for help -"

Annabeth sighed. "Well, we all know gods can capture a Titan. Even gods captured each other all the time in the old stories. But something worse than a Titan...?"

They kept talking and I tried to pay attention but I couldn't stop thinking of all the different explanations. I looked over at Chiron and it was as if he had aged ten years in a matter of minutes. "In this, I cannot help you."

Annabeth looked like she was going to have a heart attack. She wasn't used to not getting any information.

"I'll be in my office. I need some time to think before dinner. Rachel, Annabeth, will you watch the girl and get Argus to bring her to the infirmary? And Andee, you should speak with Jason."

"_Is there anything in particular I _shouldn't _say_?" I asked in Ancient Greek. It was another one of those languages that other campers only knew a little of. I had been brought up speaking it, so even Annabeth wouldn't understand what I was saying.

"_Anything you've already heard or figured out about what's going on_," Chiron said before taking his leave.

"What did he say?" Annabeth asked.

"Nothing," I said casually. "Come on, Jason, it's time for your tour."

He followed me out of the Big House and I only started talking again once we were out of earshot of Annabeth and Rachel. Chiron probably didn't want me to show him his cabin until he was claimed, so I guessed a detour wouldn't hurt. "Come on, I'm going introduce you to someone who might be able to help." I led Jason to the Hypnos cabin and pushed open the door decorated with a wreath of poppies, knowing the three demigods that belonged in this cabin would be fast asleep, no matter what time of day it was. "If there is any god that can help you with your memory, it's Hypnos," I explained before walking over to one of the beds. "Clovis!" The figure under the sheets barely moved. I turned back to Jason and saw him started to doze off. "Jason! Don't fall asleep in here - you probably won't wake up." His eyes snapped open and he nodded, still looking a little dazed. "CLOVIS!" I kicked the bed and he jolted up, looking at me.

"Oh hi Andee, what are you doing in here? It's the middle of the night!" Clovis yawned.

"It's almost dinner," I said, rolling my eyes. He just shrugged. Clovis kind of looked like a baby cow, with big brown eyes and blonde hair that always stuck up with a cow lick. He was pretty stocky which would make him good in a fight, if he wasn't so sleepy all the time. "We need your help," I explained what I knew of Jason's story.

"Hm..." Clovis said, slowly standing up. "Curious. Let me try something - Jason, close your eyes."

Jason closed his eyes and Clovis led him over to the fireplace, sitting him down and putting a hand over his forehead like I did when trying to heal head injuries. Clovis' face screwed up in concentration before pulling his hand away.

"I can't see anything. Usually, with a good night's sleep I can pull up all of someone's memories, but there's nothing there," Clovis said.

Jason jolted awake. "How long was I out?"

"Only a few minutes," I answered, turning back to Clovis. "It couldn't be the Lethe?"

Clovis shook his head.

"What's the Lethe?" Jason asked.

"One of the rivers in the Underworld. It can dissolve all your memories with just a drop. That branch is from the poplar tree in the Underworld, dipped into the Lethe," I explained, pointing at the makeshift fountain just above the fireplace.

"It's the symbol of my father," Clovis added. "Someone has actually _taken_ his memories, and he may be able to get them back over time, but it's more likely that whoever took his memories has to give them back."

"Taken? As in stolen?" Jason asked and Clovis nodded before shuffling over to his bed and falling back asleep. "Wait - Clovis!"

"No use now, he's out cold," I said, walking out of the cabin.

Jason jogged to catch up with me. "Andee, do you know _who_ stole my memories?"

"Hera, most likely. It's the kind of thing she'd do," I answered, heading towards the huge, white marble building with polished bronze doors that shimmered like holograms and had lightning bolts streaked down them. I was glad the Zeus cabin hadn't been too damaged during the war.

Jason was quiet as I led him inside. I stopped in front of my bed and sat down. "So," I started, knowing how much trouble I would get in for this, "I know a lot more about you than Chiron would like me to tell you."

"Really?" Jason asked, sitting down on the bed across from me.

I nodded. "I can only tell you a few things, mostly because I don't know that much to begin with."

"Anything would help," Jason said. "Like why we're in this cabin."

"I thought that would be obvious. Zeus is your father, so this is where you'll stay while you're at Camp Half-Blood," I told him.

Jason asked, "Zeus? As in Jupiter?"

"That's the Roman name for him, but yes. I would call the gods by their Greek names while you're at camp," I said.

"So why are you staying in this cabin?" Jason asked, looking at the pictures I had hung above my bed. "Are you my...sister?"

"Gods, no!" I was laughing out loud now. "I've got enough brothers as it is - trust me, I don't need another. I'm a three-quarter blood - the daughter of Apollo, and Zeus' granddaughter. My grandfather requested I stay in his cabin whenever I'm at camp."

"Doesn't that make you a legacy?" Jason asked slowly.

"No, it makes me his _granddaughter_," I said pointedly. "Now come on, your tour isn't finished yet."

Everyone gathered at the campfire later that night, and I was expected to lead it with my brothers. Since we really didn't have anything better to do today, my brother had come up with a set list. I read through it on my way to the campfire, and my insides froze when I saw the first song on the list was the same one we all sang after the Battle for Olympus.

I sat down next to Annabeth in the front row with Jason on my other side and Leo beside him. Leo was the Spanish elf, just in case you were wondering. Lee and Will were directly across from me on the other side of the fire. They looked at me questioningly, signaling to their guitars. I took a deep breath and nodded.

Lee started strumming his guitar and I started singing along. I could already feel tears forming in my eyes, thinking of all the people that were no longer here.

Lee started singing with me in perfect harmony before the song got faster. When it got to the chorus, everyone joined in. A few of the others were crying like me. Annabeth hugged me and I could hear her singing along softly. I kept crying and singing. I could see Jason and Leo looking at me and the others strangely.

When the song really built up, all of the old campers got up and started dancing like we did last year, squeezing in hugs whenever we could, reminding each other that we hadn't forgotten the people we'd lost, and the whole reason we sang this song was to keep their memory alive.

When the song ended, Lee came over and hugged me tightly, knowing that not only was it hard for me to remember these people who died fighting Kronos while I was under his control and fighting with him, but the last time I sung it, Percy had been here. And now he wasn't.

"We'll find him, Andee," Lee said. "I promise. Besides, I still need to kick his ass."

"For what?" I demanded, laughing a little.

"For being your boyfriend," Lee said, smiling as he sat back down and started playing the next song. I tried to sing along as much as I could, watching as everyone joked and played around. This was what camp was supposed to be like.

"You're that singer," Leo said in shock, his eyes widening. "I wasn't sure without all the make-up and sexy outfits, but your voice was a dead giveaway."

"That's more of my stage persona," I told him. "This is the real me - the one that goes to school, babysits, fights monsters, you know."

Everyone kept singing and I tried to have fun, but it was hard. Piper and Rachel joined the group, Piper sitting on the other side of Leo.

Chiron walked into the center of the pit, and Piper looked like she was having a heart attack. Apparently she'd never seen a centaur before. "To all of our returning campers, welcome back, and to our new campers, welcome! I am Chiron, activities director, and very happy to see that you have all arrived alive and with all limbs intact!" The three new campers sitting near me looked panicked. "Before we have our first capture the flag game of the summer, this dragon has to be brought under control. Cabin Nine, do you have anything to report on that?"

Nyssa, who joined us at the end of last summer, stood up and pulled the ends of her jacket. "We're working on it."

Everyone started yelling and complaining, which made the fire sputter. A giant fire-breathing mechanical dragon didn't seem like such a big deal to me, but then again, I was immune to fire. "SHUT UP!" I shouted above everyone else. "They're working on it and that's all we can ask for. I'll help them and it will get done."

"Thank you, Andee," Chiron said. "We have more pressing matters to discuss in the mean time."

Everyone looked to Annabeth who said, "I didn't find Percy at the Grand Canyon like the vision led me to believe, but we have teams everywhere looking for him. Grover, Tyson, Nico and the Hunters are all looking. We _will_ find him."

"I think what Chiron was getting at was that we need to talk about a quest," I said, giving Chiron a hard look. It was time for everyone to know the basics of what was happening.

"It's about the Great Prophecy, isn't it?" Drew asked, and all eyes turned on her. "What? Olympus is closed, Percy is missing, Hera sends Annabeth a vision, and we get three new demigods not brought here by satyr or by their parent in one day. The Prophecy of Eight has started, hasn't it?"

Everyone looked at me now. I was the go-to for visions and prophecies. Or at least, I used to be. Now I didn't even have demigod dreams, and there was no point for me to get prophecies when we had a new Oracle. "I don't know anything about it, you should ask Rachel. She's the Oracle."

I wanted to sink into the ground.

"Yes, it's starting," Rachel answered.

Lee and a few of the other campers looked at me in confusion. Prophecies were supposed to be one of my greatest gifts from my father and here I was with nothing. "I haven't gotten any visions since last summer. It's radio silence up here." I pointed to my head.

Jason put a hand on my shoulder in what I guessed was a comforting gesture. It was actually really nice of him.

Piper apparently didn't agree - she glared at me.

Everyone talked some more, and it was decided that Hera herself had issued Jason a quest. So Rachel closed her eyes. She started to sway and emerald green smoke came out of her mouth as she started talking in a raspy, ancient voice:

_Child of lightning, beware the earth_

_The giants' revenge the eight shall birth_

_The forge and dove shall break the cage_

_And death unleash through Hera's rage_

I was freaking out. I felt like I was going to pass out. I wasn't able to walk on the ground anymore. It was different at camp because the grounds were protected by the Golden Fleece, but I knew that if I tried to walk on the ground outside camp, I'd get sucked in again.

"Well, if not Annabeth, then Andee! She's the best fighter _and_ healer at camp," someone called out, snapping me back to attention.

"No," I said immediately. "I - I can't." I couldn't tell them what my dad had told me about what was happening. Not yet. "I have to try and get in contact with the gods. They tend to bend the rules for me. Besides, the prophecy said the dove and the forge will break the cage, and in case you haven't noticed, I am neither of those. I'm also going to suggest you find some way of air travel because of the whole 'beware the earth' thing." Even saying it made me shudder.

Nyssa slumped, a little. "Since Jake is out of commission, I guess that means I'm senior counselor. The flying chariot is obviously out of the question, but I'm sure we can figure out some mode of transportation out."

"It's me."

Everyone turned to look at Leo, no one sure of what he was saying. "What?" someone asked.

"It's me," Leo repeated. "I'm the 'forge' in the Prophecy. Don't ask me how I know, I just...do. I've even got an idea for transportation! Trust me!"

"I do," Jason said. "We started this together, so it only seems right. Find us a ride and you're in."

Leo pumped his fist in the air excitedly.

"All that's left is the dove, and I'd be _more_ than happy to help with that," Drew said, smiling charmingly at Jason. I missed Silena. She was a _way_ better senior counselor than Drew. Who even chose her, anyways?

While I ranted in my mind, everyone else's attention had gone to Piper, who was arguing with Drew saying that she should go, that she was a lot more qualified. And than she was transformed so she was wearing a beautiful white dress that reached her ankles and had a deep, deep v-neckline that showed off her cleavage. She had gold armbands around her biceps, a pretty necklace with amber, coral and gold flowers, and her hair was braided to the side with gold ribbons.

I totally called the whole daughter-of-Aphrodite-thing.


	7. You Cannot Find Gods on Google Maps

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rick Riordan, the Percy Jackson or the Heroes of Olympus books, characters, series, movies, or anything else you may recognize.

**Author's Note: **New chapter! Ahh! Still working on the next chapter, but it's only because I want it to be perfect. It's quite eventful. So thanks advance for your reviews, favorite, and alerts! Enjoy!

**Chapter Seven  
You Cannot Find Gods on Google Maps  
**

I didn't get much sleep that night. Hell, I hadn't gotten much sleep since prom. I laid in bed most of the night, just staring at the ceiling and drying to drown out Jason's snoring. Seriously, for such a pretty boy, he snored like a chainsaw. I turned my head to look at my alarm clock and saw it was 5 o'clock in the morning. I wasn't surprised, but there wasn't much point in trying to go to sleep when I'd have to be up in a few hours anyways.

I forced myself out of bed and ran a brush through my hair before pulling it up into a ponytail. I glanced over at Jason's bed, only able to see a mess of blanket, but went behind my little privacy screen and put on a pair of spandex shorts and a metallic gold sports bra.

It was a bit weird, having to use the privacy screen. I wasn't used to having anyone in my room except for Percy. Definitely not a kinda-sort-of family member.

I left the Zeus cabin and went for a run along the beach. Running in the sand was a lot harder than running on concrete or earth, so it worked my muscles much better. When my heart was racing, my lungs were burning, and I was covered head-to-toe in sweat, I sank into the sand and looked at the ocean.

Percy and I had so many wonderful moments on this beach. One of the first actually pleasant conversations I had with him was in this exact spot.

_I was sitting on the beach, my shoes beside me as I tug my toes into the sand. I couldn't believe what I'd just done. How could I have lost control like that?_

_Monster. Monster. Monster. Monster. _

_Someone sat down beside me and I ignored them. I didn't need anyone around me right now. _

_"Hey."_

_"Hi." Of course it was _him_. Of course. I hated him. I hated him so much. Why did he have to exist? He was just hear to ruin my life. Why did my mother have to name me Andromeda? Why? And why did he have to be named Perseus? WHY?_

_"You have really pretty eyes," Percy blurted out. I looked over at him, not sure whether to be pissed off that he was speaking to me or ecstatic that he said I had pretty eyes. _

_"You should leave me alone," I finally decided. "I almost killed him."_

_"Andee, I'm sure you didn't mean to," he told me,_

_"That's the thing. I fully intended on it. I couldn't control my anger and I was going to kill him," I said, devoid of emotion. "If Chiron hadn't yelled my name...I would've stabbed him."_

_Percy was silent beside me. He was probably wondering how many people I'd killed. _

_"I lost control," I said after a few moments of silence. "And in case you're wondering, I've never killed anyone before."_

_"I didn't think you had," he said. "And quite frankly, I know you wouldn't."_

_"What is wrong with you?" I demanded. I need to hit or throw something. The only thing near me was my shoes. I picked them up and chucked them into the ocean. "I can't die permanently! I can't get hurt! I can't even control my anger!" She took a deep breath. "I'm a monster!"_

_"You are not a monster," he told me calmly. I collapsed inward, holding my head in my hands as I cried. I glanced up and saw the waves bringing my flip flops back, dropping them right at my feet. "Andee, you're not a monster."_

_"I sure feel like one," she mumbled. "You haven't even seen me at my absolute worst...and I really hope you never have to."_

_"Andee, if you were a monster, you wouldn't be anywhere near as funny and beautiful as you are." My something fluttered and I smiled a little. I had never been complimented this much and it had never made me feel this way before. I was screwed. "No one here blames you for what happened. Me, especially."_

_He reached out and stroked my cheek. I took his hand. "Why can't you hate me? It would make everything so much easier."_

_"I don't under -"_

I sighed and hugged my knees closer to my chest. That definitely wasn't one of the most romantic times Percy and I had spent on this beach, but it was the first time I had truly realized I was in love with him.

"Please," I whispered, looking at the sky, "please just return him safe to me."

I eventually got back to my feet and started my morning yoga. All the deep breathing, stretching and meditation calmed my heart rate back down and made me focus on something other than Percy. When I was in my last pose - savasana - I knew I was going to have to do something to keep busy. There was still an hour until the rest of the campers woke up.

I grabbed some things from my cabin before taking a shower and getting dressed in a pair of jean shorts and an orange camp tank top. After that was all done, I headed to the camp store, opening it with one of the keys supplied to me as a senior counselor and put together three backpacks with Greek and mortal money, some non-perishable food and snacks, and some portable sleeping arrangements thanks to the new Hypnos kids. It wasn't much, but I figured it would at least help Jason, Piper and Leo on their quest.

When I returned to the Zeus cabin, backpacks in tow, I saw that Jason wasn't in bed, but his shoes were still near the door where I had demanded he leave them (it's a Canadian thing). A few more steps inside and I found him at the corner of the cabin where Thalia, his sister, stayed whenever she came to visit camp.

As a Hunter, she refused to use one of the few beds in the Zeus cabin. Said there was no point enjoying such a luxury when they didn't during the Hunt. So she kept a little corner for herself. A few pictures were taped above the area where she slept, all with a much younger Annabeth and Luke. My heart tightened a little, thinking of Luke. Yes, I know he treated me like crap, but at the end of the day, it was because of Kronos. I knew what it felt like to have your life destroyed by him.

"That's Thalia," I said.

He jumped a little, apparently not expecting me. "I know her, don't I?" Jason asked.

"You should - she's your sister," I said, sitting down next to him. "It's actually part of the reason I knew who you were."

"Really?"

I nodded. "I met Thalia for the first time last year, but because she's technically my aunt - we say we're cousins because it's less creepy - we tried to spend some time together. She told me about you, but she said you'd died when you were two. So seeing you alive was a bit of a shock." I stopped for a moment, my eyes staying on the picture of Thalia, Annabeth and Luke. "Your physical appearance was the biggest giveaway. You and your sister have the same eyes, but you have the same hair as my mom."

"Do you know anything else about me?" Jason asked, looking vulnerable in a way I never thought I'd see in a person who was at least a foot taller than me.

"Your last name is Grace. Your mom was a big TV star in the eighties, but when Zeus left her, she went downhill and started drinking. He came back, obviously, and had you, which kept her good for awhile, but then your mom spiraled again and died while driving under the influence. Thalia isn't her biggest fan."

"That's all you know?" Jason asked.

"I know you and your sister are very different," I told him. "There's something really different about you, Jason, and I have a theory, but I won't know anything for certain until my visions come back."

He nodded, understanding.

"This is going to sound really weird, but I need to take pictures of you and some of your things," I said.

"Sure," Jason said. We walked back to the front of the cabin and I dug through my bag until I found my camera. I took pictures of his face, his coin/sword/lance in all of its different forms, his shirt, and the tattoo on his arm. "Is that all?" he asked as I pulled a laptop out of my bag and started uploading the pictures. I pulled up a word document and wrote down some of the weird words he had used so far, like 'legacy' and the Roman names of the gods. Who knows? Maybe these were all keys to figuring out what this Prophecy was about. "Why do you need these?"

"It could help both of us," I said. "It might help you figure out who you are, and help me figure out where Percy is."

"Can I tell you something?" Jason asked, waiting for my nod of approval before launching into his dream about some wolf house and how he knew he'd been there before. "You know what's happening, don't you?"

"I have some ideas, but I want to try to find out as much as I can before I say anything," I said, running a hand through my hair. "Here's the thing, when I still saw Prophecies, I had a little more insight than everyone else. If you try to figure what a prophecy means or interfere with it to make a better outcome, you will be worse off than you were before. Sometimes the less you know, the better."

"But I don't even know where I'm supposed to go," Jason said frustratedly.

"You were attacked by storm spirits, right?" He nodded. "Aeolus is the mater of all the winds, but he can be pretty unpredictable...I'd suggest finding Boreas, the North Wind. I've had to deal with him a few times and he deals with heroes the most of the four seasonal winds. He an ass, but he'll usually get the job done."

"So can I just look him up on Google maps -"

"Seriously?" I asked. "You can't remember who you are or where you're from, but you remember Google maps?" I shook my head. "Unbelievable. How about this - _Amusez-vous à Québec - j'espère que vous parlez français._"

Jason looked at me blankly for a moment before saying, "Quebec. Okay. Makes sense that the North Wind would be in Canada." He paused for a moment, glancing back over at the picture. "Who's the blonde guy in the photo?"

All of a sudden, people started screaming outside, saving me from having to answer that question. I looked out the window and saw a hulking bronze dragon in the sky with a figure on top of it. The archers from the Apollo cabin were all lined up, ready to shoot. "Don't kill me!" the figure on top of the dragon shouted. I almost laughed out loud. Leo really had come through for a ride for them all - a bit of an unexpected one, but a ride nonetheless.

"Grab the backpacks and anything else you might need," I told Jason. "Your ride's here."


	8. Visions and Snooping

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rick Riordan, the Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus books, series, movies, characters, or anything else you might recognize.

**Author's Note: **Hey everyone! Thought I'd update! My goal is to get this story done before House of Hades because my version is definitely different, but from the first chapter preview, I made a lot of accurate guesses of what was going to happen. I'm really excited for it all to play out, so make sure you follow, favorite and review!

**Chapter Eight  
****Visions and Snooping  
**

Jason, Piper and Leo had left as soon as Leo assured everyone that the dragon - who he had named Festus (which I found funny because it's Latin for 'happy' but it's also the ending of Leo's father's name) - was safe. Apparently he had caught the dragon and rewired its brain. Personally, I wondered how he had done it without getting fried to a crisp, but no one else seemed to think anything of it.

My brain was probably just in overdrive, trying to process and figure everything out.

Annabeth was leaving the next morning to continue looking for Percy. She didn't know where she was going, but apparently she was going to search some of the places they had gone on their previous quests before, to see if anyone in the area saw him there. I guess it was better than nothing.

Annabeth stood in front me, a worried look on her face. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone, okay?" Annabeth said, readjusting her backpack as we walked to the camp borders.

"Keep your mind open to me and we won't have a problem," I said, smiling innocently at her.

"You know I had to do that," Annabeth said. "If you had seen he wasn't there, you would've gone and tried to find him yourself."

"Gods, it would be just horrible if I went searching for my boyfriend," I said, my voice heavy with sarcasm.

"We're just trying to keep you and everyone else safe," Annabeth said. I glared at her. "I love you, Andee. You're my sister and I'm trying my best to help you."

"I know, I know," I said, hugging her tightly. "I love you too. Be safe and let me check in."

"I will," Annabeth said quietly, still hugging me. "I'll see you soon."

"See you soon." We never said goodbye to each other. Goodbyes were saved for death, and neither of us planned on dying any time soon (well, I probably would, but it wasn't _permanent_.) Goodbye was too permanent a thing to be used everyday.

I watched as Annabeth walked away and made the decision that even though Jason, Piper and Leo were on a quest to free Hera (blehk) and Annabeth was off to find Percy, and most of my close friends were gone, I had to keep trying to live life as normally as I could. I couldn't let this ruin my summer. We'd find Percy and bite this Prophecy of Nine in the ass.

So that's what I did. The first day went by like it was nothing. I taught archery and hand-to-hand combat to the newer demigods and sparred with the older ones, improving their technique and stamina. Hand-to-hand combat had never been taught to the campers at Camp Half-Blood until I came and Chiron saw how well it had helped me protect myself.

The younger ones were always easier to teach because their minds and bodies were blank slates, ready to absorb the information and commit it to their muscle memory. The older demigods, however, had already learned their own ways of fighting out of necessity, which it made it a lot harder to re-teach them. Most of them managed, but there were always little things they did out of habit.

The other good thing was that they could all fight me to the full extent of their abilities without worrying that they'd hurt me. It gave me a good work-out, it gave whoever I was fighting a good work-out while helping them get stronger and faster, and I didn't get mortally wounded. No one had even killed me, mostly because no one was good enough to get close.

Percy had been the only one who could.

When I wasn't fighting or training, I was inside the Apollo cabin. When the cabins were being added and remodeled, my brothers had asked for their cabin to be expanded. Why? To fill all the instruments they possibly could, which was why I spent so much time in there. The range of instruments allowed me to do a lot of songwriting. My songs were mostly about Percy, about missing him and wanting more than anything find him.

I didn't have many breaks that first day, or on the second day. But the night of the second day was when things started to get interesting.

I walked into my cabin and locked the door, stripping out of my clothes and putting on one of the many t-shirts Percy had forgotten at camp last year. I pulled it up to my nose and inhaled his scent, smiling a little. He always smelled like the ocean - like a clean ocean - and it was wonderful.

I padded to my bed and under the covers, trying not to think about how big and empty my bed was without Percy. We didn't sleep together every night or anything so it wasn't that I was lonely or anything like that, but it was because I knew he wasn't here. It was weird to be at Camp without him.

I eventually fell asleep and was immediately confronted by a vision. There was a lot of purple, and even more blood and war going on in the background. I couldn't focus on any one thing or person, which made me believe that I was supposed to see the overall picture. A voice said 'Aut vincere aut mori' and 'praetor'. Then my vision zoomed in closer to the fight going on. Wolves ran among what I guessed were demigods, and after really focusing I was able to catch a glimpse of a tattoo on one of the fighter's arms. It was similar to Jason's, but not quite the same.

I shot up in bed, now completely awake. "I need a pen and paper," I muttered. I looked over to my bedside table and a notebook and a pen was sitting there. I didn't remember putting those there, but then again, I have been so desperate to have a vision that I must've left those there to record dreams or something. I picked up the pen and started writing in-detail what I had seen.

I was ecstatic - I had had a vision! They were _finally_ coming back! Most people would say the timing was a coincidence, but as a demigod, there was no such thing. The fact that I got my visions back almost immediately after it was revealed that the Prophecy of Nine was happening, was for a very important reason.

I was going to need my visions to survive what was coming.

I went back to sleep and had normal dreams, and when I woke up, I felt completely refreshed, ready to start the day and start searching for some information.

Chiron came to my archery lessons with the younger campers to see how things were going, and ended up teaching them. It gave me the perfect opportunity to sneak away.

No one saw me as I slipped into the Big House, trying to decide where to start. There wasn't a library or any computer databases I could just look everything up. There were a few bookcases scattered through the house, and that was it. If only there were Wi-Fi at camp, I could just look it up on my laptop.

Maybe I could escape to the nearest Starbucks. Everything's better with an iced caramel macchiato.

I started looking through all the bookcases I could find, going through every book. There were all the real stories of what happened back in Ancient Greece, all the Prophecies ever given with dates, the person who the Prophecy was given to and what happened written below each one, and biographies on the gods.

Yes, someone actually wrote biographies on the gods and their lives.

When I came to the last bookshelf, I was stumped. I hadn't found anything useful but I knew there had to be something here. I had to figure out what Chiron knew and the Big House was Chiron's equivalent of a lair (if he were actually evil) - there had to be something here. If I were a centuries-old centaur, where would I hide all my secrets?

The Big House, despite its name, wasn't that big inside. I think it was called that just because it was three times the size of any of the cabins, and looked like it belonged in the South on some old heritage property. Like girls in their Sunday-best should be sitting on the porch, drinking lemonade on a humid day.

There was the rec room, which doubled as our war council headquarters. Nothing said war like a pool table and ping pong. A small kitchen was close to the deck, always stocked with snacks for the campers and a crap-tonne of strawberry preserves. The top floor was pretty much off-limits because it was Chiron's apartment and office. Then there was the attic where the spoils of war were kept, and the basement where our supplies of nectar and ambrosia were kept, as well as more strawberry preserves.

You know, just in case the mortals looked into the camp for some reason.

Then it hit me. The second floor was off-limits because that was where Chiron's office and apartment was. Where he kept all of his private belongings. Like top-secret information regarding this Prophecy. I could get in a lot of trouble for going up there and snooping, but this might be my only chance to find out what the Hades was going on.

I looked out the closest window and tried to find Chiron, but there was no sign of him. Good.

I slipped into the office and looking through all of his personal bookcases. Most of the books were about different fighting techniques and Latin. There was, however, one small, unlabeled book that if I hadn't been looking for it, I never would have seen it.

I slid it out of the bookcase and held it in my hands for a minute, examining it. There were no identifying marks on it, and unlike the other books, it was perfectly clean. No dust and no spider webs like all the other books, which told me something had sparked Chiron's interest in it as of late.

I looked up to the ceiling and thought, _Please, please let this book have the information I'm looking for_, before cracking open the cover. When I finally gathered up the courage to read the pages, I was flabbergasted. "No. Freakin'. Way."


	9. My Mind Gets Blown

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rick Riordan, the Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus books, series, characters, movies, or anything else you may recognize.

**Author's Note: **I'M SORRY I DON'T POST OFTEN ENOUGH FOR YOUR LIKING! I'm actually super busy right now and haven't gotten to spend much time on my computer. I just got a new job, so while I'm training, I'm working full time AND I'm doing movie work as well. So busy. But I'm trying! So keep leaving your lovely reviews because I love opening my email to find them!

**Chapter Nine  
My Mind Gets _Blown_**

I sat there for a few moments in shock. When I finally gathered my senses, I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from Chiron's desk and quickly scribbled: _WE NEED TO TALK. I'M IN YOUR OFFICE._ I wrapped the note around one of my arrows and tied it in place before picking up my bow and shooting it out the window, aiming for the archery fields. It was a little far, but I had perfect aim and magic arrows.

I knew Chiron would get the message.

I sat on the edge of Chiron's desk and only had to wait a few moments for Chiron to come in, my arrow in his hand. "You have some explaining to do. You know all campers are forbidden from entering my office."

"Well, I've always been a bit more special than other demigods," I answered. "You're the one who has some explaining to do." I held up the little book. All the color drained from Chiron's face. Now I knew why we weren't allowed in his office. "He's a _Roman_? Jason is a _Roman_?"

The book didn't have very much information in it, but it had all the information I need. The first thing I saw was a pamphlet Yes, a pamphlet, but a very special pamphlet because it was advertising another demigod camp on the west coast. A demigod camp that wore purple shirts instead of orange. A demigod camp called Camp Jupiter. For _Roman demigods. _

Romans, as in the people who invaded Ancient Greece, destroyed it, and then took all of our ideas and beliefs and claimed them as their own.

The pamphlet talked about 'completing your education at the Wolf House', coming to Camp Jupiter whether you were the child of a god or a legacy, and there was information about food and activities (they play camp war games...barbaric, anyone?). They had all these weird ass rules, and they also had these purple-tinged ghosts that hang around their camp called 'Lares'.

I was furious, but more than that, I was confused.

There were only the Greek gods. That's it. They were the original gods to inhabit this world. It went back all the way to the primordial deities. It's been Greek all along. Greek, Greek, Greek. Besides, how could there be any other gods when the Olympians already controlled everything? It wasn't possible. It just wasn't possible.

"Yes, Jason is Roman," Chiron said calmly. Oh, because this wasn't rocking his world? I mean, sure, he's had several millennia to come to terms with it, but it was still mind-blowing and life-altering. "The gods, during the American Civil War, and many wars before that, decided to weave the Mist so tightly that the Roman and Greek demigods would never meet again. They keep the Romans on the west and the Greeks on the east, just like in ancient times because whenever the Romans and Greeks have met, it has ended in catastrophe."

"Well, I'm feeling like causing a catastrophe right now and showing those Romans how dumb it was to invade Greece back in the day," I said.

"History is always interpreted differently," Chiron said calmly.

"Yeah, well, I learned about this in seventh grade socials back in Vancouver and from Val and dad," I said, running my hands through my hair. Apparently I'd picked up on some of Percy's habits. "This isn't possible. There is only one set of gods."

Chiron was silent for a moment, like he was trying to decide what to tell me. "Olympus moves as Western Civilization and the center of power shifts. You know that. The gods change slightly to adapt to the culture they're in, hence your father's chariot appearing as a sports car. When the Romans conquered Greece, the gods took on different names and more war-like characteristics. The gods were in Rome for almost as long as they were in Greece, which is why each god has a Roman counterpart."

"Not every god has a Roman counterpart, though," I said. Everything was starting to click into place in my head. "My dad doesn't."

"You are correct," Chiron said. There are a few gods who are almost identical in either form, and there are a few gods that are solely Greek and solely Roman."

So that had to be what my dad meant when he said the gods were splitting. Their Roman personalities were surfacing and fighting to become dominant, but the Greek parts were fighting back. Hence the headaches and confusion.

This was a lot to take in.

"I was born and raised on the west side of Canada. I was about as far west as you can get without standing in the Pacific," I said. "Was I born Roman?"

Chiron chuckled. "My dear, did you ever feel like you didn't belong here? Did you feel a certain hatred towards your aunt and the other Greeks?" I shook my head. "That is because you are one hundred percent Greek, which is part of why you are such an anomaly. Not only are you the only daughter of Apollo, but you were born on the west coast of Canada. That is something no one has ever heard of, and something to be proud of."

I nodded, glad to be who I always thought I was. "So the Roman gods are real," I said. Chiron nodded. "And Jason is actually a son of Jupiter, not Zeus." Chiron nodded again. "And there is a camp just like this one, somewhere on the west coast, for all of the Roman demigods and 'legacies'." I paused for a moment, trying to take it all in. "What about other gods?"

"What other gods?" Chiron asked.

"All of them - Egyptian, Norse, Celtic, Hindi, all of them. Do they exist too?" I asked. "Lacy, from the Aphrodite cabin, went to school with me and said that a few kids in her grade and above seemed like they could be demigods, but something was off. Something was different."

"It is highly possible," Chiron said. "Personally, I believe they do exist in different parts of the country. Like the Greeks and the Romans, they would follow the center of power."

"Damn," I said under my breath.

"Now that you know, Andee, you must keep this a secret from everyone until Jason's memory returns. He still may not know who he is or where he's from when he returns, and he must be the one to reveal it to the others. He was sent here for a reason and we must let things come to pass naturally," Chiron instructed. "You know what this means."

"Percy is at the Roman camp," I said quietly. It was one of the first things I thought when I found out about this Roman camp, but saying it out loud and having Chiron confirm it made it real.

A spark of hope ignited in my heart. We knew where Percy was. I was one step closer to getting him back.

"I want you to act as an ambassador of sorts, so until a definite plan is set, I want you to research everything you can about Ancient Rome. We need to know how they act, how they fight, what their culture is like, and everything else we can possibly know about them. We need to be ready for what is to come."

I nodded, barely able to contain the happiness I felt. Being an ambassador meant that I had to go on the quest to get Percy. This was _huge_!

I went through the rest of the day with a renewed energy, and people seemed to notice. Everyone made remarks about how happier I seemed, but of course, I couldn't tell them why. Most of them assumed that we had found a lead on where Percy was, which was true, but once again, I couldn't say anything about it.

At dinner, I sat with my brothers and we were all laughing and singing and attempting to make up ridiculous songs with the things at our table. We were interrupted by a few gasps and a cry of rage from Drew. I looked over at the Aphrodite table to see that Piper, Jason and Leo had returned, right before Leo ran to the nearest garbage can and threw up.

Everyone converged on the group, all wanting to know the juicy details of their quest. Obviously it had gone well because they had returned and we were all still alive. The three told the story over and over again, until it was obvious how tired they were. Chiron sent everyone off to bed, calling a meeting of the senior counselors for the next night after dinner, when Rachel and Annabeth had returned from their personal searches.

When I woke up the next morning and started going through my morning ritual, I mentally prepared myself for what was going to happen. We were going to find Percy, but first we had to tell all the other campers about the Romans and what was going on with the gods. I still didn't fully comprehend all that was happening, so I doubted the other campers would.

Leo had told Chiron he needed to meet Piper, Jason, Chiron and the Hephaestus campers outside the Hephaestus cabin to show them something. Chiron insisted I come along because I was now a crucial element in this whole thing.

It felt good to be needed again.

"How much do you know?" Jason asked as we were leaving the cabin.

"Most of it. I had a vision while you guys were gone and I was able to put the pieces together with the help of a book in Chiron's office," I answered. "Did you get any of your memories back?"

"Not all, but a lot."

That was good. It would make it a lost easier to explain what was going on, especially for him to fill everyone in on the Roman parts. I still didn't know everything I wanted to know, and Jason didn't remember everything, but we were getting closer and closer to completing this Prophecy.

We walked towards the Hephaestus cabin and once we had all gathered, he led the way through the forest and to a limestone cliff. Then he turned around and with a nervous smile said, "Here we are."

His hand burst into flames as he pressed it to the wall, which just so happened to be a door. Everyone started freaking out and Leo looked...scared.

I knew that feeling. I had caused quite a few fires growing up. Hades, if I took off my bracelets now, I would set the whole camp on fire. Once everyone had calmed down over the whole 'Leo-is-pyrokinetic' thing, he led us through the door. It was the biggest workshop I had ever seen, with giant machines, worktables, maps and schematics all over the room. Festus' battered head sat on the central table and I frowned a little. He was a funny mechanical dragon; he didn't deserve to die like that. Leo stroked the dragon's head and said, "Sorry, Festus, but I won't forget you."

Jason put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Did Hephaestus bring it here for you?" Leo nodded. "But you can't repair him?"

"There's no possible way. However, his head will be reused - he's coming with us."

Everyone looked confused before Nyssa held up a sketchbook full of diagrams for different machines and weapons.

It was Chiron's turn to explain. He told them about the American Civil War and how in Western history, there was always a demigod battle at the same time as a mortal one. The particular civil war that the big map was from was a particularly horrible battle with hundreds of losses on both sides.

"The camp split apart?" Leo asked.

"No. Camp Half-Blood was one side of the war," Jason said.

"Who was the other?" Leo asked in confusion.

Chiron looked at me and I knew it was my turn. Technically, he couldn't speak of it. He had sworn on the River Styx - the only reason he told me was because I had already figured most of it out.

So I told them about how after that battle, the gods were devastated and saw the toll it took on their children, and swore they would never let it happen again. So they did their thing with the Mist, and that was the last time the two sides ever fought. We had managed to avoid another civil war, and like Leo had guessed, this was the command center for the Hephaestus cabin that had only been opened a few times since the civil war.

Leo pulled out a drawing he had made when he was five that Aeolus had given him while they were on the quest, and it had matched up perfectly with the largest schematic on the board - a Greek trireme. As I looked at it closer, I saw that it was a flying ship with all sorts of weapons equipped to it, and on the blueprint, the ship's masthead was Festus.

Those three old hags loved leaving bread crumbs for us demigods to find years and years later.

"He was meant to be our masthead - our good luck charm! I'm supposed to build this ship," Leo said. "I'm going to call it the _Argo II_. I'll need a lot of help, though."

"It's exactly what we need for our journey," Jason added.

Nyssa looked around in confusion. "What journey? You just got back!"

"We have to confront Poryphyrion," Piper said. "He said he'd destroy the gods at their roots."

That was news to me. "Much of the Prophecy of Nine is a mystery to me, but one thing is clear - Piper, Jason, Leo and Andee are four of the Nine demigods mentioned. You must confront the giants in their homeland, where they are the strongest, and stop them before Gaea can wake fully and destroy Mount Olympus."

Okay, that was a lot more information than I knew.

"You don't mean Manhattan, do you?" Nyssa asked nervously.

I knew. Every part of me knew. "We're going to Greece, bitches!"

It took a few moments to settle in with all the campers and once it did, the Hephaestus campers were full of questions. Who were the other four demigods? How long would it take to build the boat? Why wasn't everyone going to Greece?

Well, Chiron didn't know who the other four demigods were, but I was pretty sure I knew who at least two of them were. Nyssa estimated that the boat would take two years to build. We had one year. The summer gods were the least powerful and easiest to navigate, so we had to sail before the next summer solstice. We had to avoid ground travel, using only air and sea, and since Jason and I were both related to the god of the sky, it worked out perfectly.

Percy was the son of Poseidon. I missed him so much, but we were so much closer to finding him now. He'd be perfect on the trip. Jake Mason handed over the position of senior counselor to Leo, and apparently Piper had taken the position from Drew earlier this morning (thank the gods!).

Everyone disappeared for the rest of the day until the meeting. Everyone was at the war council when we were ready to start. Nobody sat at their proper places anymore because it got confusing with the additions of the minor gods and the Oracle. Jason sat with Leo and Piper on either side, Clarisse leaned back in her chair and rested her boots on the table, Clovis was sleeping while Butch saw how many pencils he could fit up Clovis' nose. It was a lot. Travis was trying to burn a Ping-Pong ball, and Lee was wrapping an unwrapped a tensor bandage around his wrist. Lou-Ellen from the Hecate cabin and Miranda from the Demeter cabin were arguing about something. Probably the fact that Lou-Ellen was holding Miranda's nose. Rachel, still in her Clarion Academy uniform, sat at the head of the table with Chiron.

Annabeth was still in full armor beside me, holding her knife at her side. _Calm down_, I thought to her.

She glared at me. _I'm calm. I just want to know what's going on. _

_Sucks to be the one who is left out, doesn't it? _I asked with a cheeky grin. She flipped me off.

"Let's come to order," Chiron said. "And yes, that means Lou-Ellen giving Miranda her nose back, the Ping-Pong ball must be extinguished, and Butch, twenty pencils is too many for any one human nostril." Travis tossed the flaming Ping-Pong ball at me and I caught it easily, bouncing it from hand to hand. If Travis had it, the Big House would go up in flame in a matter of seconds. If I had it, we were all safe. "As you can see, Jason, Piper and Leo have returned safely and mostly successful - I'll let them fill you in on their quest."

I had heard the story too many times now. I leaned back, balancing on the back legs of my chair, and threw the flaming ping-pong ball up and down, doing little tricks with it to see if I could manipulate the air to make it fly higher and burn brighter.

It didn't work, but I'd get there soon enough.

"Romans," Clarisse said, catching my attention as she threw a Snausage to Seymour. "You expect us to believe there's another camp with demigods, but they follow the Roman forms of the gods and we've never heard of them."

"He's telling the truth, Clarisse. I've looked into it," I said. "The gods have been keeping us apart on purpose, because every time the Romans and Greeks run into each other, they try to kill each other."

"Well, obviously. I'd kill a Roman if I ran across one, too," Clarisse said. Chiron shot her a sharp look which she ignored. "But that's my point. Why have we never run across each other on quests?"

"You have, many times, but it is always a tragedy," Chiron said sadly. "The rivalry goes all the way back to the Trojan War, Clarisse. The Greeks invaded Troy and burned it to the ground. Aeneas, the Roman hero, fled to Italy where he founded the race now known as Romans. The Romans grew more powerful and started worshipping the gods under different names and slightly different personalities."

"More warlike," Jason added. "More united. More about expansion, conquest and discipline."

"Yuck," Travis said. I agreed, but didn't say so out loud. Everyone looked uncomfortable with the idea except for Clarisse. Figures.

"As revenge, the Romans took over the Greek isles and made them part of the Roman Empire," Annabeth said.

"The Romans admired the Greek culture, and were a little jealous. At the same time, the Greeks thought the Romans were barbarians, but respected their military power. It was during the Roman times that the demigods divided - either Greek or Roman," Jason explained.

"So where were the Romans during the Titan War?" Lee asked, a hint of anger in his voice.

"We conquered Mount Othrys - I personally defeated the Titan Krios."

That explained why the mountain suddenly crumbled. Everyone thought it was just because we had defeated Kronos, but I guess the Romans had their own part to play in the war. I had to respect them for that.

"The Bay Area," Annabeth said suddenly, and I could hear her thoughts buzzing as everything clicked into place. "We were always told to stay away from it because of Mount Othrys, but it was also because the Roman camp was somewhere in San Francisco, probably put there to keep watch over the Titans."

"The camp's heavily veiled with magic and heavily guarded," Jason said. "You could search for years and never find it."

"Too bad it didn't mention an address in the brochure - that would have been handy," I said. "We have to go there, though. We should stop by on the way to Greece."

Clarisse gave me a look. "If those Romans see a warship coming, they'll assume it's an attack."

"You're right," Jason said. "We have to go there, though. I was sent here to learn about Camp Half-Blood and to try to convince you that the two camps don't have to be enemies. A peace offering."

"It was an exchange," I said quietly. "A leader of Camp Jupiter - the Roman camp - for a leader of Camp Half-Blood. Jason for Percy." Everyone gasped and started talking. "We will need to prove just how strong we are to the Romans, but also how different we are. I think we should have a representative of each god go as far as the Roman camp. That way we show a united front, show our custom of respecting each god, and protect ourselves by cushioning our numbers. There will be a lot more Romans than Greeks."

"I agree," Chiron said.

"We should also consider the idea of praetors," Jason mentioned. "I was one at the Roman camp. It's a commander of the Roman army. At Camp Jupiter, there was always one female and one male. The Romans may look down on the Greeks for not having some sort of leader."

"The Greek equivalent would be a strategos," I said right away. "Same idea, but we don't have any assigned here because we're not really into the whole 'war' thing. However, Jason should be one of our strategos, seeing as all of this is a peace treaty. It will show we have accepted him as one of our own."

Everyone agreed with that, but started arguing about who the other should be. Obviously female, so people were fighting over whether it should be Annabeth or Clarisse. There were a lot of pros for each of them. The Romans would appreciate Clarisse's militaristic style of thinking and fighting. Annabeth, however, was better with people and put a lot more thought into her plans. They were both daughters of war-related gods, so it could be either of them. My vote was for Annabeth.

"WILL YOU ALL SHUT UP?" Jason shouted. They quieted down immediately. "I want Andee to be my fellow strategos."


	10. Follow the Leader

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rick Riordan, the Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus books, series, characters, movies or anything else you recognize.

**Author's Note: **Hey everyone! I keep getting reviews to update, lol, so here's an update. I am a bit busy with work. I think in the past three weeks I've only had one actual day off because the other days I was "off", I've been working on set, doing photography or out all day. Like tomorrow, for instance, is my day off, and I'm working on set instead. Oh well. Money money money. So I hope you all like the chapter, sorry that it's a bit shorter, but it's pretty good, I think. So enjoy, favorite and review!

**Chapter Ten  
Follow the Leader**

I had met a fair share of crazy people in my life, but Jason took the cake. _Me _as a strategos? It was a role for a leader, which I most definitely was not. I wasn't even trusted to go on quests anymore! My first quest since the war wouldn't take place for another year. I couldn't even control my own abilities!

When I noticed everyone staring at me, I said, "I'm not a leader."

"Yes, you are," Annabeth said. "You led your first official quest with Camp Half-Blood last year and you did extremely well."

"I led our entire group into a trap that could and very well should have killed all of us, and got a key that was supposed to show us how to destroy Kronos, but looked like it was a ploy. I took it at face value, while Nico - who wasn't even on the quest with us - figured out what it really meant!" I argued. "Besides, by the time anyone was able to use the key, I was already under Kronos' control."

Everyone was quiet for a moment, remembering the war. Probably remembering the horrible things I know I did but had trouble remembering.

"You are the best fighter any of us have ever seen," Lee started. "You're also the most powerful, and because you have the most to lose on this quest, you'll keep a level head and make sure that whatever decisions are made, are the ones that will benefit and spare the most people."

Jason nodded his agreement. "Besides, Chiron's already appointed you as the ambassador for Camp Half-Blood, so it only makes sense."

Everyone's eyes were glued to me, waiting for an answer. Clarisse didn't look impressed, but she also wasn't saying anything against it. Clarisse rarely kept her opinions to herself, so if she was quiet, it usually meant she agreed with what had been proposed but just didn't want to admit it. I could tell what the others were thinking.

I'm sure there were at least a few of them that didn't think it was a good idea. Everyone remembered what happened last year and I knew some of them still felt uncomfortable around me, like Kronos was still in control of me.

"I vote Andee le Fay, granddaughter of Zeus, daughter of Apollo, ambassador for Camp Half-Blood, to be our strategos when we go to Camp Jupiter," Annabeth said. "We're Greek - we're the founders of democracy, aren't we? If anyone opposes, you can challenge her in a duel for the spot."

No one would challenge me. For one, I can't die. Secondly, I've been training since I was six years old, while most of the other campers only started training when they were twelve or thirteen. I also trained year-round, instead of just during summer break.

Getting in the ring with me would be stupid, as Mark from the Ares cabin learned the hard way.

"I second the vote," Lee said. One by one, the senior counselors began echoing Annabeth and Lee. I sat there in stunned silence was they all waited for me to accept. I hadn't known when Chiron had told me everything about the Greeks that this might happen, that I might lead the Greeks to war. Chiron also hadn't mentioned that this was all parts of the Prophecy. I didn't want to be a part of another Prophecy, not one this deadly.

"Fine," I sighed frustratedly. "I'll do it."

Jason's grin reached from ear to ear. "Good. Now we've got a warship to build."

Everyone went their separate ways, a few of the senior counselors asking Leo how they could help. I was still a little furious that the people who supposedly cared about me had ganged up on me like that. I mean, come on, I said I couldn't do it!

I went for a jog around the camp to help me calm down. After about ten laps around the camp's borders (and stopping to talk to and pet Peleus for a good hour), I needed to hunt someone down.

When I found Jason walking back to the Zeus cabin, I shoved him as hard as I could. My shove sent him flying into the front of the Athena cabin. "What the hell, Andee?"

"Why on Earth would you want me to lead this quest with you? Hmm?" I demanded.

"You've got power in your eyes."

"That's not a valid answer! That's something I would find in a fortune cookie, and you're not even Chinese!" I growled at him. "I would have been fine being a scullery maid, so long as I got to see Percy again."

"Do ships even have scullery maids anymore?"

"The Hades if I know!" I exclaimed. "What did you mean when you said I've got 'power in my eyes'?"

"When I first met you, there was just something in your eyes that told me how strong and powerful you were, before I knew anything about you. I'm not sure why that happened, but I just knew," Jason explained. "Intuition, or something like that, I guess."

I was silent for a moment, letting his words seep in. "I don't know if I can lead everyone into what might turn out to be war."

"Yes you can," Jason said. "Trust me, I was a praetor at Camp Jupiter - every fiber of my being tells me it has to be you. You're even stronger than me, which is saying something."

I gave him a look. "You're dumb."

"Do you always resort insults when someone's right or is that just for me?" Jason asked with a grin.

"It's for all the dumb-asses of the world," I said. "You're not as special as you seem to think you are."

"Oh, I'm pretty special."

"Oh, yeah?" I asked. "Because last time I checked, I'm the only daughter of Apollo, Zeus's granddaughter, and I'm a Greek born on the west coast _and _in Canada. Pretty sure that makes me way more special than you."

Jason grinned and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "I think we're going to get along just fine." I wished he wasn't a son of Zeus so I could zap him. Repeatedly. With high voltage. "Also," Jason said, "the Romans have no respect for Minerva - Athena's equivalent - because she's more about planning and defensive strategies, but the Romans are all about offense. It has to be you."

We both fell silent as we walked the short distance to our cabin, My ring shone as it caught a glimpse of light from the shiny walls of the Zeus cabin. "That's a nice ring," Jason said to break the silence.

"It's a promise ring from Percy," I said quietly, tracing the infinity symbol. "He gave it to me the night he disappeared as a promise that we'd get married one day. Honestly, though, I would have married him on the spot if he'd asked."

"Even more reason for you to lead this quest with me," Jason said. When we arrived at the steps to the cabin, he looked around and smiled. "Follow me." Suddenly he was floating in the air, rising higher and higher until he was standing on the roof of the Zeus cabin.

"I can't fly."

"You sure about that?"

I thought back to the war and remembered Thalia and Annabeth saying that I actually flew when I made the jump from the elevator to Olympus. But we were in the middle of the war and no one was thinking clearly, so I didn't believe them.

"Apparently not," Jason said, noticing a moment of uncertainty on my face. "Climb up, then."

"It's a flat surface!"

"I'm sure you can figure out a way."

"I should remind you that my grandfather - your father - isn't the best state of mind right now and wouldn't notice if I killed you."

"You can't kill someone you can't reach."

I had an arrow notched in my bow before he finished the sentence. "You sure about that?" I asked, mimicking his earlier question. I kept my arrow locked on him. If there was one thing I knew for sure, it was that I could hit any target. _Any_.

Just to prove the point, I shot the arrow at him. It whistled through the air and skimmed his ear, leaving a couple drops of blood behind. "You missed!"

"I _never_ miss," I said, taking a look around. We didn't exactly keep ladders on hand at camp. I took a running leap towards the Poseidon cabin, which was much lower than the Zeus cabin, and was able to grasp the edge of the roof. I pulled myself up pretty easily and gauged the distance between the Poseidon and Zeus cabin. I could make it.

I moved to the far edge of the Poseidon cabin's roof and started running, taking a bounding leap and landing on the roof of the Zeus cabin. There was a lot of building jumping involved in my training with Val. A lot. Sometimes we even jumped trains instead of buildings.

I miss the good ol' days.

"You didn't fly, but that was still pretty impressive," Jason complimented as I sat down on the edge of the roof with him.

"Daughter of Athena have fun making up creative training exercises," I answered.

"So you weren't trained here?" he asked.

"No. My godmother's been training me in Vancouver since I was six years old."

"I know someone from Vancouver," Jason said.

"Well, Vancouver is a pretty big city, but I most definitely wouldn't know him if he was a Roman," I mentioned.

"You're probably right," Jason said, looking out at the camp. "It explains why you're so much stronger than the others here." I nodded. "So what's the deal with that necklace and those bracelets? You're always wearing them - during training, while you sleep, during swimming...why do you wear them?"

"Why shouldn't I?" I asked defensively. "I'm a girl - we like to wear jewelry."

"That's not the reason, though, is it?"

I sighed, rubbing my hands on my thighs. This was not a story I was eager to tell, but I did anyways, starting from the fires and power outages I caused as a child to the moment everyone realized that if the sedation I was under wore off, I would destroy everything.

Jason was quiet for a long time afterwards before saying, "That sucks."

I looked at him in disbelief for a moment before bursting out in laughter. "'That sucks'? That's all you have to say about it?"

"Well, that and we could help each other," Jason said.

"How?"

"You teach me how to fight like a Greek, and I'll help you learn your Zeus abilities," Jason said. "If we're going to succeed on our quest, we need to depend on each other and really be able to work as a team."

"Agreed."


	11. Keep Moving

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rick Riordan, the Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus books, movies, series, characters or anything else you may recognize.

**Author's Note: **I'M SO SORRY! I seriously thought I'd posted this chapter and that I was just waiting for a break to edit chapter 12, and then I saw that wasn't so. SO I'M EXTREMELY SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME! So. I am really busy. I have work, school, music lessons, fitness classes and supposedly sleep (I don't know when that's supposed to happen), and that's not including my songwriting, performances, regular novel writing, photography and all that. But I will try to post as regularly as possible. Maybe once a week...Saturdays? I'm not making any promises, but I think I may be able to manage that. So maybe once a week on Saturdays. I will try, that's all I can say. So thank you for all your reviews and support, and I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you want to see, and to shake it up, let me know what year of school you're in and what you're taking, and I'll let all of you know on the next chapter my answer!

**Chapter Eleven  
Keep Moving**

I sat in the Apollo cabin, looking at the box Val had sent. I already knew what was in the box, without even opening it, which was why I couldn't bring myself to open it.

"Lee said you'd be in here," Annabeth said, leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed over her chest. Annabeth and Lee had been spending a _lot_ of time together lately, and I don't think it was because they were worried about my mental state anymore. Were they dating? Oh gods, I hoped they were dating. They'd be _so_ cute together, and I really think they'd be good for each other. Annabeth could bring Lee's ego down a few notches, and Lee could remind Annabeth to have a little fun every once in awhile.

"Are you dating him?" I asked.

"Who?"

"My brother."

"Oh," Annabeth said, her cheeks uncharacteristically red. "Would that be a bad thing?"

"Not at all," I answered. "Now are you dating?"

"Kind of," Annabeth admitted. "It's not official or anything, but we've been spending a lot of time together. And kissing."

I grinned. "Welcome to the family, θυγάτηρ," I said and she smiled too.

"So what's in the box?" Annabeth asked, crossing the room to sit on the bed with me. I had a bed in the Zeus cabin and the Apollo cabin, so that if I ever felt lonely or needed a little inspiration, I could stay with my brothers. My dad also insisted that if the main cabin I stayed in at camp was my grandfathers, that at the very least, I would have my own space in his.

"School stuff."

"That's so exciting!" Annabeth exclaimed. "Why haven't you opened it yet?"

"I don't know if I'm going to go anymore," I said quietly.

"WHAT?" Annabeth yelled.

"I don't think I'm going to go to Julliard anymore," I said slowly.

She glared at me before storming out of the cabin. Well, that conversation was unusually short. Especially for Annabeth. I continued my staring contest with the box for a few moments before Annabeth came rushing back in, followed by Lee, Will, Phoibe, Jason, and my demigod friends from Vancouver, Delia (daughter of Hestia) and Mel (daughter of Thaleia).

"Do you want to tell everyone what you just told me?" Annabeth demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

"I don't think I'm going to school in the fall," I said. Everyone gave me these looks - I couldn't tell what they were, but they didn't make me feel very good.

"Are you serious, Andee?" Delia asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Why? Why don't you want to go anymore?" Annabeth asked. "It's your dream school and you got in on a full-ride scholarship for the new 'Triple Threat' program. Why on earth would you turn that down?"

"Because it's not going to be the same without Percy. We talked all year about going to university and we planned which weekends we'd stay in each other's dorms and which weekends we'd spend at camp or with our parents. He busted his ass to get accepted into Stony Brook and was so excited," I said. I finally understood why they were looking at me like that - they were looking at me with _pity_. Poor Andee, she can't do anything without her boyfriend. How sad. "Stop looking at me like that! I'm fine, okay? We know where Percy is and we're going to get him. All I'm doing is delaying my post-secondary education for a year - it's not that big of a deal. Most people take gap years between high school and university."

"Andee, you can't stop living because Percy's not here," Annabeth said. "This is your dream, you have to go."

"We were supposed to do this together," I told her firmly. "We talked about it all year and it just doesn't feel right to do it without him."

"Honestly, I think you're being stupid," Jason said bluntly. Lee turned to him with an impressed look on his face. "We know where Percy is and we're going to go get him. It would be stupid for you to put your education and life on hold. There are enough of us who will be staying at camp year-round to get the ship done."

"Jason's right, Andee," Annabeth agreed. "Besides, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

Not like I didn't have a billion other things on my plate. "Okay, fine! I'll go," I said, which seemed to please my friends and family. Once everyone was completely satisfied that I was going to Julliard, they left the Apollo cabin to continue with their training and camp activities. Annabeth stayed behind, sitting on my bed with the unopened box in her lap.

"Are you going to open it?" Annabeth asked excitedly.

"Yes! Gods, you're a pest!" I teased, pushing her a little before digging my keys out of my bag. I pulled my dagger out of the sheath on my thigh to open the box before starting to pull out all its contents. A few textbooks for my music and acting classes, a school hoodie, some stickers to put on my laptop and car, and a brand new pair of Pointe shoes with a note from my aunt.

_I figured you should have a new pair. Better start breaking these in. I love you and I'm so proud of you, _paidaki mou.

"I should have opened this sooner," I said, more to myself, as tears started to well in my eyes. Val wasn't always open about her emotions, so this meant a lot to me. I immediately threw off my running shoes and slipped my feet in the ballet shoes, tying the soft ribbons up my calves.

"I need to talk to you about something," Annabeth said slowly.

"Now that my spur-of-the-moment intervention is over?" I asked, standing up on the shoes. Ouch, I forgot how much it hurt to break in Pointe shoes. Thank the gods I healed quickly.

"Yes," Annabeth said, and something in her voice changed. I did a pirouette and kept spinning in place as Annabeth spoke. "You can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, not even Chiron."

"I swear on the River Styx," I said, still spinning and using Annabeth to spot.

"During my last search for Percy, before Jason returned and we figured out that Percy was at the Roman camp, I saw my mother."

I stopped. Her mother would be one of the gods who was splitting. I hadn't told anyone, not even Annabeth, about seeing my dad and grandfather at graduation and what they had said. I didn't feel like I should. "How was she?"

"She was...she was off. Like, really off. She was in the subway and she looked really lost. She didn't recognize me as her daughter, which I guess was because she was in her Roman form. She kept going on and on about how the Romans destroyed her and that she needed revenge. When I asked her if she knew where Percy was, she told me he was with the Romans and that I had to forsake him; that he should perish with them all. She...she gave me something." I sat down beside her with a tug at my heart, knowing what she was about to show me. She pulled out the silver drachma with the owl on it. The Mark of Athena.

"Oh, Annie..." I said, depression filling my entire body. Athena has sent so many of her children to follow her mark, but they all went insane. Not a single demigod returned unscathed.

"She told me to follow her mark and avenge her, or I was no longer her child." Annabeth's voice cracked. "You know what this means."

"You're going to be the successful one, Annie," I said, trying my best not to cry. "I will help you every step of the way, even if it means healing your mind over and over. You're not going to end up like the others."

"I thought you guys said you can't heal minds," Annabeth said, hastily wiping away a few stray tears.

"I'm more powerful than them, and we're connected. It will be like healing myself," I told her. "I promise, I won't let you end up like the others."

She nodded and I hugged her tightly, hoping and praying to whatever gods were listening that Annabeth would make it through this. We were going to have to depend on each other a lot over the coming year.

When school started in the fall, I split my time between home with Johnny, Val and Dimka, Camp Half-Blood, school and work. My schedule was so busy that I never really had a moment alone, which distracted me from having to think about the Prophecy of Nine, Percy, and the Mark of Athena.

I got to be really good friends with Piper once she figured out that Jason was my uncle. I helped her train with her dagger, teaching her the best ways to get in close without getting harmed herself. She was a quick learner, which was great. She wasn't anywhere near my level of fighting, but she was pretty good. I also taught her that beauty is powerful, especially with guys, and that she should use it to her advantage when she fought.

I had learned that from Silena.

She didn't believe me at first, so I had to show her. During one of the group training sessions, a boy from the Ares cabin volunteered to fight me (not Mark - he would never make that mistake again). After a few well-placed winks and hip-swaying, he was too distracted to notice how close I was. He was down in seconds.

We talked about Jason a bit too, and I told her that whoever this Reyna chick was, she was in Jason's past. Piper could be his present and future, but she had to make a move if she really wanted him.

I was at camp one weekend just after Christmas and winter break, sitting on the edge of the boat, lost in thought. The ship was coming along great - I had no doubt it would be ready in time. It felt weird to be doing all of it without Percy. Not just the quest, but everything. It made me sad to think about all those times we had sat up planning our futures, and for him not to be here doing it with me.

"Are you okay?" someone asked behind me. I turned to see Leo standing behind me, looking at me nervously.

"I'm fine - just thinking," I said.

"You're not going to jump, are you?" Leo asked, a bit of terror leaking into his voice.

"I'm invulnerable," I said. "I was thinking about Percy, and how if he were here right now, we'd be doing homework together and sneaking out to see each other."

"Is Percy really as great as everyone says he is?" Leo asked, taking a seat beside me.

"I'm a bit biased, but he's wonderful. He's funny and charming and so hot and an amazing fighter, but he's pretty stupid sometimes, too," I said, laughing a bit. "Some of the younger campers think he's perfect, but he's anything but. He's perfect for me, though."

"You really miss him, don't you?"

"I love him more than anything, and it's like a huge chunk of my heart is missing," I said. I could feel myself start to get emotional so I changed the subject. "You're doing a really great job with the ship."

"Thanks," Leo said, blushing at the compliment. "I just wish I had more hands. Everyone's been really helpful, but I usually end up re-checking everything that's been done by someone else just to make sure it was all done right."

"Ah, so you're a perfectionist," I said, laughing a little. "Never would've thought."

"When it comes to building things, they need to be perfect. One thing wrong and the whole thing is useless," Leo explained.

I nodded before asking, "Are you still worried about your pyrokinesis?" He shrugged a little, staring at his shoes. "It's not a curse, you know."

"Yes it is," Leo said quietly. He told me everything that had happened when he was little, all because of Gaea trying to break him at a young age, because Medea had told her he would be one of the Nine responsible for her downfall. He tried to use his pyrokinetic ability to protect his mother but he lost control, and she ended up dying in the mechanic's garage she worked in. After that, Leo's extended family refused to take him in, so he was forced to move from foster home to foster home for all his life.

I was lucky. I was so lucky that Val had taken me in. She never had to. She could've dumped me with my grandparents or into the foster system. Instead, she took me in without a moment of hesitation. I was extremely lucky.

"I'm sorry your mom died, but that wasn't your fault," I said, and Leo shrugged. "That was all -" I couldn't say her name, especially when her power was growing - "that _woman's _doing, not yours." I put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "If it's consolation, I actually killed my mother." Leo looked at me in horror. "Not on purpose, but technically speaking, I killed her." He gave me a look telling me to explain. "My mom was a demigod - a daughter of Zeus. So having a child with Apollo wasn't her brightest idea, especially when there was a prophecy saying she would die before she turned nineteen.

"I had no way of releasing my powers when I was in the womb, so the moment I was born, they exploded and killed my mom. The moment she would have turned nineteen was the moment I was born and she died. My dad lost the love of his life, my aunt lost her best friend, and I never got to know my mother because of someone no one had any control over."

Leo was silent for a long time before asking, "How do you control it?"

"I don't - at least, not since the war," I said, holding my hands up so he could see the bracelets on my wrists. "The Athena and the Hephaestus cabin me these bangles after Kronos destroyed my control, and these are the only things keeping me from destroying everything and everyone."

"I'm sorry," Leo said.

I shrugged indifferently. "You just have to work with the cards you've been dealt with."

"Thank you," Leo said suddenly, before adding, "for talking to me. I mean, you're a pretty big deal as it is, in bother the mortal and demigod world, so it means a lot. It can get pretty lonely spending all my time on this ship."

I smiled. Leo was really sweet, and unfortunately, had been through some tough things. I could relate. "Give me your arm," I said. He gave me a weird look, but complied. I pulled a marker out of my bag and wrote ten numbers across the length of his arm. "If you ever need any help on the ship, or your just want some company, just give me a call."


End file.
